USS Spectre Compile - May 1st-31st 2007 by Alan Reading ========================================================================= Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: 1 Stardate: 2407.02.01 (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 16:15) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 19:30) ========================================================================= Mission; The Sword of Damocles Day: 4 Stardate: 2407.02.05 (USS Spectre - Holodeck 2 – Engineer’s Mate, CPO M’Rurrh – 16:07) (USS Spectre - Corridors – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 16:07) (USS Spectre - Corridors – Ensign S'rrep – 16:08) (Zulu Alpha - Bridge - CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 18:52) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:05) (GDV Sssharussa - Bridge - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 19:06) (GDV Sssharussa - Sickbay - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 19:07) (GDV Sssharussa - Sickbay - Commander Marco Ryan - 19:09) (USS Spectre - deck seven - CMO - Williams - 19:10) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign(JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 19:10) (USS HOOD - Guest Quarters - Ensign Jynea Kreung - 19:12) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:14) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 19:16) (USS HOOD - Guest Quarters - Ensign(JG) Serixs Ssarummon - 19:17) (USS HOOD - Guest Quarters - Ensign Jynea Kreung - 19:18) (USS Spectre - Theatre - CMO - Williams - 19:19) (GDV Sssharussa - Transporter Room - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 19:20) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 19:22) (GDV Sssharussa - Transporter Room - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:23) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (j.g.) Jynea Kreung - 19:27) (USS Hood - Corridor - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:28) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 19:28) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 19:28) (USS Hood - Jynea's Guest Quarters - Rabbit Mark - 19:30) (USS Spectre - Deck three - Captain T'Vhor - 19:31) (USS Hood - Holodeck Two - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:32) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Captain T'Vhor - 19:33) (USS Hood - Holodeck Two - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:34) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - Zulu Alpha CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 19:39) (USS Spectre - Jefferies Tube 41-D - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 19:40) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:41) (USS Spectre - Armoury - Agent Smith - 19:44) (USS Spectre - Armoury - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 19:46) (USS Spectre - Turbolift - Zulu Alpha CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 19:46) (USS Spectre - Turbolift - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:47) (USS Hood - A Turbolift - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:47) (USS Hood - A Turbolift - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 19:48) (GDV Sssharussa - Bridge - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 19:48) (USS Spectre - Armoury - Agent Smith - 19:49) (USS Hood - A Turbolift - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:49) (USS Hood - Serixs' Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:50) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 19:51) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 19:52) (USS Spectre - Outside Armoury - Corporal Lewis O'Hara - 19:53) (USS Spectre - Sickbay- Nurse Douwsy - 19:55) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:55) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign(JG)Serixs Ssarumon - 19:56) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 19:57) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D - Corporal Lewis O'Hara - 19:58) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 20:00) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Nurse Douwsy - 20:00) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D - Agent Smith - 20:00) (USS Spectre – Engineering – Ensign Bourne - 20:01) (USS Spectre - Main Bridge - First Officer - Lt. Brian Rogers - 20:05) (USS Spectre - Main Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 20:06) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 20:06) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - Captain T'Vhor - 20:08) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 20:08) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 20:10) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 20:12) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 39-D – ACEO Ensign Bourne - 20:15) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & Commander Talok - 20:15) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Nurse Douwsy - 20:19) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D – Corporal Lewis O'Hara - 20:20) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 20:20) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 20:21) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D – Ensign (JG) Robin Bourne - 20:22) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 20:22) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering- ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 20:23) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 20:25) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D – Agent Smith - 20:26) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's tube 41 D - Corporal Lewis O'Hara - 20:28) (GDV Sssharussa - Captain's Ready Room - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 20:30) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's tube 41 D - Agent Smith - 20:33) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 20:33) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering- ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 20:35) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering- ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 20:38) (USS Spectre - Morgue - CMO - Williams - 20:45) (USS Hood - Arboretum - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 21:00) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 21:00) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 21:01) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 21:05) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - President Rondar Nell - 21:05) (USS Spectre - Bridge - CMO - Williams - 21:05) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Nurse Douwsy - 21:07) (USS Spectre - Deck 15 - Stellar Cartography - Captain T'Vhor - 21:07) (USS Hood - Crew Lounge - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 21:10) (USS Hood - Industrial Replication Shop - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 21:15) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Captain T'Vhor & Lieutenant Commander Phillip Tovardi - 21:17) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 21:23) ========================================================================= Mission: The Sword of Damocles Day: 1 Stardate: 2407.02.01 (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 16:15) Jynea rubbed her eyes, sitting up. She wasn't quite sure how long she'd been asleep. Oh, sure the wall chronometer told her a time, but she wasn't quite sure when she'd closed her eyes. This whole not having places to be and having things to do deal was really .. well.. boring. Jynea rolled off the couch to stare out the view window. She couldn't recall the last time she'd had *nothing* to do. She'd always had jobs, or chores, or things to study, or places to get to, or.. she sighed and leaned her forehead against the transparent aluminium. She was very surprised to hear her door chime. It wasn't like she knew anyone on this ship. Running a hand through her short hair, Jynea turned and went to answer the door. She was surprised to see a large human appearing man on the other side in a red uniform. "Uhm, can I help you?" she asked timidly. "Ensign Kreung?" The man asked, shifting from foot to foot. He had some sort of furry creature resting against one shoulder. "Yessir," she replied. A lieutenant, senior grade. Red shirt. Looked like he'd never had skipped a night's sleep in his life and was well toned. Her guess was a pilot, perhaps even a squadron leader if the Hood had fighter pilots. "I heard you're heading to the Spectre?" He said, still looking unsure. This was a bit bizarre. Jynea stepped back and aside, "Please, come in Lieutenant." "Thanks Ensign." He stepped in and handed her the bundle of fur. The creature had long ears drapped down, a wiggling nose, bright blue eyes and white fur with grey splotches. No tail to speak of, but surprisingly heavy for all that it seemed to happily rest its chin on her shoulder. She hoped she didn't look as confused as she felt, but since she'd been told she was an open book at the best of times, she suspected she did. "That's Mark, he's a Holland Lop." The Lieutenant offered. "Right." Jynea said. "What's that?" "Its a type of domestic rabbit? Your file said you lived on Earth..?" He trailed off. An earth animal. It wasn't like she'd spent a lot of time in the wildlife preserves or .. uhm, wherever domestic rabbit Holland lops hung around. "Okay." she agreed. They stared at each other for a minute. "Uhm, Lieutenant, why do you bring him here?" He blinked at her. "Oh! Right! Sorry Ensign, you see, if I've been transferred to Delta Platform, which is on limited life support until the full core is online. Which means no dependants, sentient or otherwise.. So I can't bring Mark with me. Of the people with records a board that I trust, none can take him in. They have dependants of their own. So I did a search and found you." "And.. you think I'd be a good.. uhm, foster parent?" Jynea's brows were wrinkled. "Well, ensign, you're a counsellor, everyone who's met you says you have a good heart and you're gentle. That's all a rabbit needs in a friend. I really appreciate this! I'll have his things brought round!" The Lieutenant shook her free hand and hurried back out. Hurried back out before she could even disagree to the transfer of the animal, it seemed. "Well Mark," Jynea said, sitting down and settling the creature on the couch beside her. She tentatively pet his forehead. Mark shoved his head into her palm and stroked his nose along it. "Right." She stroked his face from nose to ear, Mark ground his teeth softly. Jynea stopped, startled. Was he in pain? The rabbit snorted and shoved his face back into her hand. "Oh, well, okay." She went back to stroking the soft fur and trying to think about how she was going to explain this on her papers. Her belongings DIDN'T list a rabbit and his furniture on it - she wondered if she could refile with the Hood's quartermaster or if she had to contact HQ. Fates, she wasn't even sure if the SPECTRE allowed "non-sentient dependants" aboard. Had the Lieutenant thought to check? Did he have the security clearance to even find out anything about the Spectre? SHE didn't and she was assigned to the ship! Mark jumped off the couch and started to sniff around. His hindquarters moved in the strangest way, his back legs moving together in little jumps. "Well, I suppose you can't be too much trouble if a fighter pilot kept you." Jynea told the small creature with a sigh. She really hoped those weren't famous last words. (Reply None) (Written by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Counsellor Jynea Kreung - 19:30) Mark's belongings had shown up via a site-to-site transporter pad. Her non-sentient dependant now had more belongings that she did; by a factor of almost three. Said non-sentient dependant was flopped between her elbows as she lay on her stomach in the middle of the floor of her quarters. The rabbit seemed to be napping after a tough evening of throwing some teething keys all over the place. Jynea had four PADDs on the floor in front of her. One was the paperwork to change her orders, which looked like it had been originally written by a Vulcan in Klingon and then translated to Standard. The Second was a very short list of 'things I know about the Spectre.' The third PADD was everything she knew about the current status of the Federation and why they would be heading to the neutral zone. She didn't quite believe the whole 'scientific exploration' nonsense. The senior crew were just too on edge. The last PADD was her dissertation. It's subject had been changed twice already. "Well Mark," she said to the sleeping bunny. "Maybe the Spectre is a diplomatic exploration vessel and they were sent to Romulus to open negotiations with the Romulan government to assist with the current conflict." Mark twitched an ear as she talked. "You're right, more logical to do a rain dance to put out a fire. Better chance of success too." Mark didn't offer an opinion one way or the other. Jynea sighed and gave another try at the paperwork, managing to get two more lines filled out before she put it down again. "The military is built on paperwork and bureaucracy." She imitated her professor, "You must learn the proper way to complete it, deal with it, and defeat it or you will spend all your time in the quartermaster's office." There was a frightening thought, being assigned to quartermaster or supply or.. she let out a shudder. Even being sent to an unknown ship going who knew where to do who knew what was better than THAT! Strategy and success was a more enjoyable course than snoozefest 101, and Jynea she was pretty sure she would never need to know the appropriate plan to storm a would be enemy stronghold with spears. "Okay - so maybe the Romulans were up to something and the Spectre was sent to undo it." She tilted her head to one side and thought about it. "Though, I'd think it would be better to sneak in on one of the Vulcan diplomatic vessels or a trade ship or something. A Starfleet vessel is hardly subtle." Jynea rolled over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling tiles. "I probably have a better chance at figuring out long range transporter techniques than I do the puzzle of the mysterious ship." She let out a breath and felt a nose nudging her arm. She reached over and pet Mark on the head. "I bet you, ten credits, when we finally get to the Spectre that my clearance was supposed to be increased, all knowledge passed on to me, and the reason it wasn't is some clerk somewhere was so bored with their work their head spontaneously imploded." "Squerk." Said Mark. "Imploded, of course, because explosion would have made a mess and there would have instantly been a set of orders released about preventative measures of cranial explosion sent fleet wide." She tossed her head to one side and spotted a rough edge on the bottom of the couch. "Hmph, you'd think they'd do maintenance in the quarters between officers - even if its just for juniors. It looks like a Tralion sand beetle visited." With a yawn Jynea rolled to her feet and headed to bed. Mark the bunny watched her go and then went back to chewing on the tasty couch. (Reply None) (Written by Lorna Appleby) ========================================================================= Mission; The Sword of Damocles Day: 4 Stardate: 2407.02.05 (USS Spectre - Holodeck 2 – Engineer’s Mate, CPO M’Rurrh – 16:07) She sat in the middle of the engineering deck and watched the drama unfold around her. For the fourth time she watched everyone around her cower as the detonator was ripped from its housing. She didn’t even blink. ~Is this what it’s like inside his mind? Is he playing the events over and over?~ She’d tried calling for the arch and when that failed she tried to access the holodeck’s running programme remotely through her tricorder. She knew that as a good engineer she ought to be able to work her way out of anything with just a hair-pin and a tube of toothpaste, but she’d left both in her quarters and was slowly coming round to the idea that she might need to see something in what she was being shown. “Alright,” she said aloud in case anyone was listening, “I get it; The bomb never goes off. Can you let me out now?” (Reply any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Corridors – CEO, Ensign H’Chir – 16:07) The intruder hadn’t moved much from his position by the arch, in fact he was so close that the holodeck hadn’t yet covered up the arch with its usual 360-degree panorama. Together they’d watched the simulation play out in holodeck two three times. They’d watched the captive M’Rurrh attempt to engineer a break-out and whilst he was pleased his programming had been out of her reach, H’Chir couldn’t help but be a little disappointed that she hadn’t found some way through. ~See!~ he thought, ~There’s a reason why I’m Chief Engineer on this ship!~ =/\=Alright, I get it; The bomb never goes off. Can you let me out now?=/\= A victorious smile broke across the Andorian’s face; he’d convinced her. For the first time in a long while he had an ally on this ship, someone who would believe he was fit for duty. (Reply S’rrep, any) (Posted by Michael Drake) (USS Spectre - Corridors – Ensign S'rrep – 16:08) Two times, three times the same scene had played out. Over and over, the same thing each time. And it was definitely time to make this whole thing stop and get out of here. Something about the Andorian made his hackles rise. Probably the thought that he was completely barking mad, or maybe the alert, or keeping someone trapped inside simulations until they gave a suitable response. He wanted to run, but at this point, he didn't think that was possible. "Someone believesss you now, yes?" That smile was somehow terrifying. He was really regretting sticking his nose into this situation now. (reply H'Chir, iyw) "I think, afterrryou let 'errr out, we should ask security what is goin' on. The alert is making me nervous." And he was going to tell that he had found H'Chir, and then he was going to avoid engineers for as long as possible, particularly Andorian ones. Or any high ranking engineer. And throw holodecks in there, just to be safe. This was definitely the last time he lived up to the curiosity indicated by his name. "If somethin' bad is happening..." he trailed off, not sure how to end that sentence. Something was happening, something he'd really rather he wasn't involved in. But now that he was, he'd do his best to stop it. (reply H'Chir, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (Zulu Alpha - Bridge - CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 18:52) Ryan dug his fingernails into the minimalist captain's chair on the very spartan bridge of the Alpha while time seemed to slow to a standstill while he knew, that below his feet, the moronic Gorn were firing their weapons at him. Suddenly, the ship began to shake. Then, it started shaking, violently. A bridge officer at a rear station had not held onto anything, and his Andorian body flew up with the first large jolt, and the back of his head and neck made contact with the titanium ceiling. Blue blood splatted outward in every direction, painting the ceiling, and then the body fell to the ground in a heap. "They're firing torpedoes at us, sir!" The tactical officer said, unphased by the demise of his comrade, only a few meters from where he was standing. "Helm, evasive action. Somebody get that mess off my bridge," Ryan shouted. "Sir, they're plasma torpe-..." The tactical officer started, however, before he could finish, the Alpha was subjected to more pounding. When it stopped, a haze occupied the bridge, and emergency lighting was on. "Shields at 15%, sir. We're losing them. We're on emergency power on Deck 5 and below and we can't have the regenerators running." Ryan tapped his comm badge. "Ryan to Engineering. Disable the warp output. Redirect all power needed by the nacelles to weapons, shields and impulse," Ryan ordered. The engineer was a former Combat Engineer, who has served with Doenitz' Marine units. He didn't question the foolish orders. =/\= Yes, sir. =/\= he said before the channel closed. Ryan walked around to the tactical station, "Knowing the Gorn, they'll get too over eager and try to finish us off now. When they fire their next torpedo, launch our anti-torpedo probe," Ryan said. "Yes, sir," the Tactical Officer said. The skeleton bridge crew watched while the Gorn vessel fired a single torpedo. The Alpha's countermeasures were easily able to stop it. Ryan grinned with pleasure at the sight of everything coming together. "Now, let me show you something," Ryan said, pointing to the tactical diagram of the Gorn ship on the tactical display, "Fire our torpedoes there. That will crumble their hull, quite easily," Ryan said, a sense of calm restored to his voice. The tactical officer complied, and if any members of the bridge crew had a doubt about their commander, it was now gone. The Gorn suffered serious hull breeches when their weapons struck theirs. "They're firing!" Tactical shouted. Ryan started back towards his seat. "Yes, helm, defensive manuever Decker-Alpha-41. Keep our strong side towards them. Return fire." Ryan ordered. The Alpha turned about while their distruptor blasts hit their shields. "Return fire," Ryan ordered while the tactical officer reported their shields were dropping to 10%. The firefight continued, but the Alpha's superior top-secret phaser arrays were slowly gaining the upper hand, despite the weakened shields, until the Sssharussa fired another torpedo. A power relay in the wall exploded, killing the Ops Officer. Only Ryan and his Tactical and Helm officers were alive, and dead bodies lay throughout his bridge. "Sir, shields are down!" TAC shouted. "I'm not getting any readings from below Deck 8. Helm is sluggish. We're losing power to all systems," The helm officer replied. Ryan looked around his bridge. This was it. He stood up and moved to a rear bridge station. "Computer. Identify my voice. This is Commander Marco Ryan of Earth," he said. [Voice Confirmed.] "Arm the Antimatter Missle," Ryan said. The jaws on the two officers dropped. Antimatter weapons had been banned long ago, but this ship didn't exist, and banned weapons of mass destruction had ways of showing up onboard. The single large-yield weapon would vaporize anything within 100 kilometers. Antimatter radation would infect the nearest planets for 200 years or more, and generations would be affected by the decision Ryan was about to make. [Missle armed. Loading now.] The computer reported. Ryan turned to the tactical officer. "Target the Gorn's vessel. Helm, when the torpedo clears our hull, full reverse impulse," Ryan ordered. Both men nodded. Ryan had disabled their warp drive eariler in the fight, and on impulse, they would never escape the blast. Neither would the Spectre, or Sssharussa. "The missile is ready, sir," Tactical reported. By this time, both of his enemies probably had scanned the prelaunch buildup of Antimatter from the Alpha. Maybe the Gorn were trying to figure out a way to deflect it away or something. But T'Vhor knew his fate. He would die here. Ryan walked over to the tactical console and pressed a bright red button. He put his head down and waited. Nothing happened. He looked up. There was no streaking torpedo. Nothing. The Spectre and Sssharussa continued their assualt. Ryan screamed. "WHAT HAPPENED!" he shouted. "Sir, the computer says that the torpedo is... unable to launch." "Lomax... that traitor. He sabotaged us. Damn him," Ryan said. "Helm, prepare ramming speed. We only have one chance to kill President Nell," Ryan started, but an alarm interrupted him. "Sir, the detonation charge on the torpedo is still act-..." He never finished. There was a bright light, and a deep explosion rocked the Alpha's battered hull. The antimatter torpedo not only contained an antimatter warhead, but also the force of 10 regular torpedoes in case the antimatter warhead failed. The SIF onboard the Alpha failed, and a large section of the lower hull exploded, vaporizing several decks. With a large section of the ship gone, the Alpha was now adrift, with no gravity or life support. The emergency air seal would keep the bridge intact for 30 minutes, but nothing was operational. Ryan was now adrift in zero gravity. No lights, or consoles, and stale air. Every one was dead. The blood of the Andorian floated around up. He looked through a porthole on the side of the bridge and spotted the Gorn ship coming towards him. He pondered what the Gorn thought. He sighed and drifted to his captain's chair. He attempted to sit, closed his eyes, and shed a tear. He had failed Admiral Doenitz. (reply any, none) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:05) Seated in the command chair of the Spectre's bridge, the Vulcan hybrid CO leaned forwards within it as the Zulu Alpha continued to exchange heavy blows with the Gorn vessel. Vasilyovna had been registering the depleting strength of her shields of course as each of the Ssharussa's EPT's slammed into her hull whilst she in turn attempted to counter the assault from the much weaker vessel. "Back up the Ssharaussa Lieutenant", said the Captain, "target the Alpha & remove her ability to maneuver", he added. "Aye sir, targeting the Alpha's impulse engines now.... torpedoes away", said the Tactical chief just as two fast moving, sparkling blue bolts of light streamed towards the increasingly ailing vessel. "Inform the Gorn vessel that if possible they are not to destroy this ship, they are to incapacitate it only", said the Captain. "Aye sir", said the Comms officer as he complied with the Captain order. "What is our status now?", said the Captain addressing his Tactical chief once again. "Shields are at thirty nine percent sir, we have a hull breach on deck seven, emergency forcefields are in place & holding", said Vasilyovna just as another phazer blast from the Alpha hit their ventral shields to reduce that figure to thirty percent. Vasilyovna was quick to return fire the moment she had a lock as the Helmsman rotated the Spectre along her axis so as to avoid further blasts while they began their attack run. The Gorn vessel however had again fired her torpedoes prompting Vasilyovna to rather loudly inform the CO that the Alpha's shields had just fallen in response to another direct hit. For a moment the Enemy vessel appeared to list to port as her interior lights suddenly flickered & then died on the lower decks, then she came to a halt in space, her maneuvering thrusters & impulse engines having now been taken offline by the onslaught. "She's dead in the water sir", said Vasilyovna, "the Gorn Vessel is moving in" "Did they respond to our last communication?", said T'Vhor turning quickly now towards the communications officer. "Yes sir, they acknowledged a few seconds after", said a puzzled looking Ensign whilst the viewscreen confirmed the actions of the Ssharussa as it turned & then moved slowly towards the stricken ship. "SIR!", shouted the tactical chief, "I'm reading a build up of anti-matter in the vicinity of the Alpha, pinpoint source, emanation pattern suggests a possible antimatter warhead", she added. Immediately, the Captain turned to the communications officer again at the announcement, then he ordered him to signal the Gorn vessel to retreat from the area as he ordered Rodriguez to do likewise. "He can't be serious", cried Vasilyovna, "surely they wouldn't be carrying what that appears to be, those weapons are banned", she added. "If he launches he'll saturate the entire system!" The Captain however knew full well the implications of the Alpha's Commander launching an anti-matter weapon & given that possibility, their only chance now was to get as far away as was possible in order to minimize damage. "Do we have warp capability?", said the Captain realizing as he spoke that this may be their only contingency now for survival. The resultant reply however did not instill them with much hope. "No sir, warp engines are offline", came the response from the Engineering console behind, at which point the Captain wasted no time whatsoever. "Full reverse, make as much distance from the Alpha as possible", he ordered before then opening a channel to all decks. "Bridge to all hands, prepare for impact", said the Captain whilst the Spectre began retreating fast along with the Gorn ship which had thankfully seen the danger also. Then it happened..... What actually did happen though was nothing like what they had expected, there was no missile tracking away from the Alpha, no massive explosion in space as it's atomic structure was annihilated from within by the resultant matter/anti-matter mix. All that happened was a huge explosion centred within the Alpha itself as it`s entire drive section was suddenly, & aggressively torn away from the saucer to leave the later spinning out of control in space whilst the engineering hull simply disintegrated spectacularly into a burning hulk. The bridge of the Spectre was suddenly very silent save for the various beeps & noises coming from the operational consoles. Each crewman simply watched in awe as the events unfolded before their eyes on the viewscreen. How many crew had just been lost they wondered, how many lives suddenly ended through the maniacal actions of the man commanding this vessel? It did not bear thinking about. After a long pause however, the Captain issued another order, knowing as he did so that despite the somewhat questionable actions of this vessel up to now, they were Starfleet officers & as such they had a duty to life. "Scan for possible survivors", said the Captain, "scan also for lifepods that may have been launched prior to the explosion", he added. "Aye sir", said Vasilyovna, "initiating scans" The Captain then called for damage & casualty reports from all decks as he settled back slowly into his chair, a deep sense of regret within as he contemplated what had just come to be. No matter what had just transpired though, the notion remained that this could have been so much worse. (Reply Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (GDV Sssharussa - Bridge - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 19:06) Captain Zernix watched as the Zulu Alpha came to a dead stop in space after the barrage of weapons the vessel received. She knew that is was blind idiot luck that any of them were still alive. The Zulu Alpha is a much more powerful vessel than the Sssharussa. In a straight dogfight between the two, the captain knew her vessel would not have faired quite so well. Now the ZA was disabled and the Gorn were moving in to secure her. "What is our status?" Captain Zernix asked, getting an assessment before her next move. "Warp power is offline." Krusse responded. "The hull breaches are sealed, but atmospheric generators on decks seven and eight are destroyed." He sighed as the final part of the list came up and looked solemnly at his CO. "Twenty-seven confirmed dead, captain." The female Gorn winced as though she had been struck, letting out a low hiss. The Sssharussa had a crew capacity of over one thousand, but due to manning, she operated on a crew of only two-hundred. Now...she had even less. Every life lost was precious. Every one brought them closer to extinction. Out here in Romulan space, the loss felt even greater. "Captain." The communications officer began. "Captain T'Vhor of the Spectre wishes to ensure that we will not destroy the Zulu Alpha." "Send confirmation." Captain Zernix responded. "Our intention has never been to destroy the Zulu Alpha." She then shot a look at her first officer. "Sub-captain. I want you to assemble a boarding party and stand by." With a crisp nod of acknowledgement, Krusse stepped off of the bridge, making his way to the Marine rally point. Once he was gone, she looked at her communications officer again. "Open a channel to the Zulu Alpha." She hissed. Once the communications officer nodded that it was open, she stood from her chair. "This is Captain Ruxsa Zernix of the Gorn Vessel Sssharussa. You are ordered to surrender and prepare to be boarded. We are willing to allow your crew to leave if your commanding officer surrenders to a boarding party without incident." There were too many seconds of silence before she looked at her comm officer once more. "The channel is open, Captain." The communications officer said to her. "They are either unable or unwilling to respond." "Captain!" The tactical officer said before Captain Zernix could respond to the loss of communications. "There is an anti-matter build up in the Zulu Alpha's forward torpedo tubes." "A weapon?" The captain asked, moving to her command chair again. "Yes, Captain." the tactical officer snarled. The pace on the bridge just became frantic once more. No warp power, limited impulse. There was no way they could escape the explosion. "He is insane!" One of the crew behind the captain yelled. "Helm!" the captain yelled from her command position. "Back us away from the Alpha. Best possible speed." She hissed, then jabbed the comm button on her chair's armrest. "Sub-captain Krusse, get back to the bridge!" Now was a tense frustrating time. There was no way the battered Gorn cruiser would escape the anti-matter explosion from the banned weapon. "I should have known." The captain hissed under her breath, her mind moving to the surviving members of her crew who were about to meet their demise... That event never came, though. Suddenly and without warning, the ZA exploded. The powerful vessel was ripped asunder by the anti-matter detonation deep in her structure. "All stop!" the captain said. The ship lurched to a stop as the entire crew stared at the viewscreen in utter shock. "Report." The captain commanded, though with no response. "REPORT!" She yelled again, this time much louder than before just as Krusse returned to the bridge and retook his station. He began reading the sensor data, shaking his head. "The anti-matter weapon detonated in the tube, Captain." He hissed, looking out at the viewscreen at the ruined hulk that was once the Zulu Alpha. "Scan for survivors!" She commanded. "Get in close." The Sssharussa lurched forward, scanning the debris of the Zulu Alpha, trying to pinpoint any sign of life. "Minimal life sign readings in the Stardrive, captain. The Spectre is transporting them." The tactical officer reported. "What of the Saucer?" She said, pointing at the other portion of the ship that had been separated and was now spinning end over end. "One life sign on the bridge." the Tactical officer said to her. "Human." She hissed low, then nodded. "Get a tractor beam on that section to prevent the spinning, then transport the life sign to sickbay." She looked at Krusse. "Post security. Make this by the book, Sub-Captain." She then jabbed the comm button on her armrest once more. "Bridge to Sickbay. Healer Yas, you have incoming wounded. A human." =/\=Understood Captain.=/\= Came the other female Gorn's voice. Outside, the green tractor beam of the Sssharussa caught the spinning saucer, slowing it and finally stopping the spin. "Transport successful, Captain." Krusse said. "He is within Sickbay." =/\=Healer Yas to Bridge.=/\= Came the voice of the Gorn CMO. "Go ahead, healer." Zernix said, sitting and contemplating all that has transpired. =/\=Captain, the human is wearing Starfleet Command division and has the rank of Captain.=/\= Zernix shot a look at her first officer and narrowed her eyes. A low guttural hiss filled her throat. So it would seem the ZA's commanding officer had survived. "What is his condition?" The Captain asked, barely able to contain her boiling anger. =/\=Relatively in good condition, Captain.=/\= The CMO said. =/\=Nothing serious.=/\= With a snarl, the captain leapt from her chair. "Sub-Captain, you are in command." She hissed, moving towards the exit to the bridge. "Make all spare Engineering and Medical Teams and whatever provisions we can available to the Spectre." She growled. She wanted to have words with the Alpha's captain. "And tell Captain T'Vhor of our prisoner and that he is welcome to transport aboard to claim him." She watched Krusse step to the central command chair, issuing the orders as the lift doors closed in front of her. (GDV Sssharussa - Sickbay - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 19:07) NRPG: Anyone that comes over to get him, feel free to jump in at any point during the captain's little tirade. ;) RPG: The Captain had made her way through the almost cathedral-like corridors of her ship to the Sickbay. Every movement was like a hunt and she was livid. So many had died. Her crew she could accept the loss of, but the Zulu Alpha's crew died so needlessly and it stung her hard. She entered the Sickbay where all around the medical staff that was not immediately needed were packing medical kits and readying for standby in case the Spectre needed them. The moment she stepped in, she locked eyes with the human and the two Gorn marines on either side of him. To him, she would probably would not be immediately noticeable as a female. She lacked the chest of mammalian females, but she was shorter, leaner, and less bulky than the males. What he would probably notice was the blood red sash around her narrow waist marking her as the Captain of this vessel. That, along with the bared teeth and angry snarl showed she meant business. "HOW DARE YOU!" She screeched in a very strained standard. With systems currently offline, the shipwide UT was inoperative and she had to communicate the hard way. It was difficult and painful, but she barely even noticed the discomfort in her current state of mind. (reply Ryan) Captain Zernix hissed at his words, resisting the urge to backhand the human right then and there. What he said was lost. Only that he spoke out of turn was enough. "I love the Federation." She snarled, getting her face very close to the human's. "Since I was a child at the Gorn Embassy on Earth almost a Century ago...SssSsss...I have struggled to live my life by the articles of the Federation because it stands for integrity! I wanted to give that same understanding to my people." She turned her back a moment, cooling her rising anger. All of the Gorn around her had gone stock still, now staring at their enraged Captain. She turned to look at the human once more. "The Federation is the last monument for hope for us all. Not this mockery that charlatan you call a president has created. Your actions sully the Federation and demean it's values." (reply Ryan) "HE IS A SADIST! He has no right to make a Terran Empire here and that is exactly what he is doing." She snarled at the human. "He does not care about you or what is right." She growled and reached, grabbing a clawful of the human's hair, pulling his head back and began speaking in deathly quiet tones. "If you had something he desired, he would kill you for it...sssSsSs." She looked the human dead in the eye. "You have, perhaps, carried out those very orders against others...." She released his hair and took a step back. (reply Ryan) "Twenty-Seven of my people are dead!" She growled. "Twenty-Seven gave their lives to defend the Spectre because Captain T'Vhor represents the Federation as it should be. They died for the Gorn Hegemony and they died for the founding principals of the Federation. They died with purpose." She growled, the last bit emphasized harder than the others and with more than a little painful pride. "Tell me, Captain...What have your people died for here today?" She hissed, her hands balled into fists. (reply Ryan) "They died for the lunatic meanderings of a madman!" She snarled again. "And you killed them." She looked at him and his uniform. "You swore an oath to your crew. You were responsible for them..." She got closer once more. "And you failed them. Your gambit with the illegal weapon failed." She spit out at him. "They paid the price for that. You sacrificed them to the wrong cause and cheated them both in life and death. You have failed your responsibility as a Starfleet officer and me having to tell you this, as an outsider, only makes your failure complete. I offered you terms of surrender. Your crew would have been able to leave and live, but you MURDERED them." (reply Ryan) "No. I am not going to kill you." She hissed. "I am no monster, despite what you think." She took a deep breath, composing herself. "You will live, Captain." She growled. "Listen to the voices of your dead crew and see their faces at night while you sleep. Then....THEN...ask yourself what it is they died for today." She growled again. "Maybe...Just maybe...you will come to understand enough to break your master's leash." She sighed, feeling utterly drained. She had been needing to let that out since this whole thing began. "Until then you do not deserve to wear that uniform." She reached out, snatching his comm badge and taking a good portion of his uniform tunic with it. (reply Ryan) The captain growled once more, resisting the urge to gut him, then looked at the security officer posted at the door and returned to speaking in her native language. "Get him off my ship." She snarled as the security officer led him away. She moved to a bed, leaning her weight down on it. She felt exhausted now. Very tired and very weary. Quietly, she felt the hand of one of her crew come to rest on her shoulder, the younger Gorn nodding his assurance to her that he believed she was doing the right thing. (reply T'Vhor, Any) (posted by Don Jones) (GDV Sssharussa - Sickbay - Commander Marco Ryan - 19:09) Ryan sat looking at the two bulking lizards standing next to him. They reminded him of pet lizards he had seen while growing up. Except oversized, and carrying disruptors. And they had achieved spaceflight and warp drive some how. Ryan shook his head while a smaller one entered the room. Ryan thought it could be a child, with its colorful clothing. The small one started shouting at him in some horrible attempt at Earth standard. "HOW DARE YOU!" she started. "Please, I have one request. Send me to the Spectre where I'll be treated with civility, or send me to the Romulans, where they'll just shoot me outright. Its inhumane to be tortured with the odor of your species," Ryan quipped. The little one made a funny face, then continued her tirade. "I love the Federation. Since I was a child at the Gorn Embassy on Earth almost a Century ago...SssSsss...I have struggled to live my life by the articles of the Federation because it stands for integrity! I wanted to give that same understanding to my people. The Federation is the last monument for hope for us all. Not this mockery that charlatan you call a president has created. Your actions sully the Federation and demean its values." "I hate to break it to you, Lizard, but Admiral Doenitz is the true president of the Fed-..." he was cut off by the short one. "HE IS A SADIST! He has no right to make a Terran Empire here and that is exactly what he is doing. He does not care about you or what is right." She grabbed his hair, and pulled his head back. She then spoke in a slow tone, "If you had something he desired, he would kill you for it...sssSsSs. You have, perhaps, carried out those very orders against others...." Ryan smirked, the Gorn female, if that what she was, was in much emotional distress, and Ryan could torture her in his own way. "Listen, I don't know how your people rule things back at the swamp, but Admiral Doenitz is the proper leader of the Federation. President Nell is a coward and a traitor. Admiral LoDona and his lapdog, Captain T'Vhor, are terrorists," Ryan said with a smirk. "Twenty-Seven of my people are dead! Twenty-Seven gave their lives to defend the Spectre because Captain T'Vhor represents the Federation as it should be. They died for the Gorn Hegemony and they died for the founding principals of the Federation. They died with purpose. Tell me, Captain...What have your people died for here today?" Ryan turned to her and glared. "They died defending the honor of Admiral Doenitz. The legitimate Commander-and-Chief of the Federation." "They died for the lunatic meanderings of a madman! And you killed them. You swore an oath to your crew. You were responsible for them... And you failed them. Your gambit with the illegal weapon failed." She spit at him. "They paid the price for that. You sacrificed them to the wrong cause and cheated them both in life and death. You have failed your responsibility as a Starfleet officer and me having to tell you this, as an outsider, only makes your failure complete. I offered you terms of surrender. Your crew would have been able to leave and live, but you MURDERED them." Ryan sighed and spoke with thick scarcaism. "I've been ready to die for Admiral Doenitz the day I turned 20 and was assigned to his crack fighter squadron. I would suggest you space me, but maybe you'll chop me up and mix me with your nightly fly soup," he said. The female hissed. "No. I am not going to kill you. I am no monster, despite what you think. You will live, Captain. Listen to the voices of your dead crew and see their faces at night while you sleep. Then....THEN...ask yourself what it is they died for today. Maybe... Just maybe... you will come to understand enough to break your master's leash. Until then you do not deserve to wear that uniform." he grabbed a section of his uniform and tore it away. Ryan grinned, "Oh please. You should know that interspecies relations is so inappropriate." He didn't know if the Gorn female would understand his joke, but she apparently did, judging by the silly look on her face. She hissed something at another one of the bulky ones, and Ryan was lead away to a new location, somewhere on their rustbucket of a ship. (reply none, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - deck seven - CMO - Williams - 19:10) “Okay get this one to sickbay as fast as you can.” Andrew looked at the crewman who nodded to him. He was glad that the force fields had held or this deck would have been spaced and the casualties would have been worse. He moved toward another injured crewman. From the look of her, she had been thrown into the wall of the corridor. Her arm was lying in a very unnatural way. “Hay crewman I‘ll get you sorted out.” He quickly scanned her arm which just confirmed what he thought. Her humerus was fractured at two places and she ripped her bicep muscle. “It really hurts Doc.” Andrew took out a hypospray and emptied its contents into her neck. “That’s a pain killer…” =^= Nurse Douwsy to Dr Williams=^= “Williams here.” =^= Were getting survivors from the enemy ship=^= “I’ll be right there.” He looked down at the crewman. “You think we can get you back to sickbay?” The crewman nodded and with Andrew’s help she got up and headed for sickbay. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS HOOD - Guest Quarters - Ensign(JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 19:10) The past several hours had been one thing after another for the Gorn. Thankfully, though, it seemed that the worst of it was over. Sensors showed that the Zulu Alpha had been defeated and both the Spectre and the Sssharussa were relatively intact. The ship he came from and the ship he was going to both getting into a fight against a more powerful vessel and nearly being blown straight to hell. It was a bit much for him yet. Since there was little else he could do at that point, the Chief Science officer of the Hood excused him from the Science Department and sent him back to his quarters until otherwise instructed. They just made it clear that if they needed him, he would need to be available. Without much thought, Serixs walked to the replicator and tapped a command into the console above it. "Coffee...Black." he snarled. He was grouchy and needed some caffeine in his system. Unfortunately, in the midst of all that had occurred, he forgot that his replicator had been tampered with. He took the mug and was about to take a drink when that smell hit his nostrils once again. He looked down and sure enough, there was a Gorn-sized mug full of Chocolate Pudding staring back at him. "For the love of all that is holy!" He snarled, then stormed out of his quarters. His thoughts once again turned to getting someone for this little fiasco. He was tired and he had not had any coffee at all that day. Someone was going to pay for that. The people in the corridors of the Hood cleared a path for the eight foot green reptile with the snarl on his snout as he rounded the corner and entered a turbolift. He was going to find the Counsellor and get her help. Revenge is always best shared but before that, he wanted coffee dammit! The bright lights of the corridors simply irritated him all the more as he finally made it to Counsellor's quarters. He tapped the door chime and waited. Finally, when it opened, he looked at the smaller Orion woman, his head tilting slightly. Sure, he was very big, green, and had a mouthful of razor sharp teeth showing, but right about now he also looked pleading and pitiful. Without much of a word, he handed her the oversized mug of pudding, all while trying very hard not to frighten her. (Reply Kreung) "Counsellor Kreung.." He hissed. "I am the Assistant Chief Science officer of the USS Spectre, Ensign Serixs Ssarumon." He looked left and right a moment, making sure he did not make a complete idiot out of himself. "I know this may sound odd, but does your replicator work?" He asked her. (Reply Kreung) "Thank you." He said, stepping into her Quarters and letting out a long sigh of relief. From her Replicator, he finally got a proper mug of coffee and sipped at it. Blissful...finally...He so needed it. (Reply Kreung) "It would seem, Counsellor, that some rather immature crewman altered my replicator to only produce chocolate pudding when I order coffee." He snarled a moment and muttered. "Fix the replicator. Hilarity ensues. Yuk Yuk Yuk." He said sarcastically. (Reply Kreung) "I see..." He hissed, thinking. "So it was not just my replicator that they altered." He pondered, the wheels in his head finally turning again now that he had coffee in his system. "I propose that you and I teach them a lesson about blasphemy against cookies and coffee." That was when he noticed the little ball of fluff that was the Counsellor's rabbit dart under the couch. "Oh, I believe your food animal has escaped confinement." He said, motioning to the couch." (Reply Kreung) "Apologies." He said in response. "I sometimes forget that others do not keep such animals for food." He remembered the mistake he made some time ago concerning a rabbit. "You see, there was a mishap in my first year at the Academy." he said, relaying the story to her. "One of the other Cadets left her rabbit in my quarters with a note asking me to take care of it while she was away during Winter Vacation. I misunderstood and did indeed take care of the creature, though not as she had intended." He shook his head. "I was in such trouble. Have you ever had a Vulcan look at you totally deadpan and tell you how rude it is to eat someone's pet?" He chuckled. "It is quite a sight to see. I purchased her a new rabbit, but I do not believe she had ever forgiven me for that one." (Reply Krueng) Serixs listened and finished off his mug of coffee, then set the vessel back in the replicator to be broken down. "Now, Counsellor, Shall we plan our revenge?" He asked, getting a bit of a vicious sneer on his face. (reply Kreung) (Posted by Don Jones) (USS HOOD - Guest Quarters - Ensign Jynea Kreung - 19:12) Jynea was searching her quarters for the infestation that was causing the furniture detoriation. Mark was hopping after her trying to figure out the game the counsellor was playing. She wacked her head on the underside of the table when she was surprised by the door chime. "Gah!" She grunted, rubbing her head as Mark fled from the scary noises. She opened the door to find a very large Gorn on the other side. Well, she was actually sure Gorn came in any size other than large, except maybe extra-large and extra-even-larger. His shoulders were hunched, he clutched a mug in his hands with tightened knuckles. She was even more startled when he shoved the mug into her hands. She sniffed, chocolate pudding. "Counsellor Kreung.." He hissed. "I am the Assistant Chief Science officer of the USS Spectre, Ensign Serixs Ssarumon." He looked left and right and moment, as if checking no one was watching. "I know this may sound odd, but does your replicator work?" He asked her. "Sort of." Jynea said, "I think its producing what it should be. It was wonky when I came a board." She stepped aside, "At least, it hasn't produced any pudding, if you want to try it." "Thank you." He said, stepping into her Quarters and letting out a long sigh of relief. From her Replicator, he finally got a proper mug of coffee and sipped at it. Blissful...finally...He so needed it. "So.. uhm, your replicator is broken?" She tentatively offered, not quite sure what to say. 'Hey our skintones match!' didn't see quite right, somehow. 'My what big teeth you have!' just invited way too many wrong answers. "It would seem, Counsellor, that some rather immature crewman altered my replicator to only produce chocolate pudding when I order coffee." He snarled a moment and muttered. "Fix the replicator. Hilarity ensues. Yuk Yuk Yuk." He said sarcastically. "Oh, well, maybe that's who got mine too." She perched on the arm of the overstuffed chair. "Mine seemed to have no comprehension beyond 'C Ration' before I reinstalled the software thingy." "I see..." He hissed, seeming to ponder the matter. "So it was not just my replicator that they altered." Pause. "I propose that you and I teach them a lesson about blasphemy against cookies and coffee." he looked down suddenly, "Oh, I believe your food animal has escaped confinement." He said, motioning to the couch." "My food..?" she echoed until she spotted Mark's twitching nose. "Oh, no, that's my non-sentient dependant, Mark." "Apologies." He said in response. "I sometimes forget that others do not keep such animals for food." He remembered the mistake he made some time ago concerning a rabbit. "You see, there was a mishap in my first year at the Academy." he said, relaying the story to her. "One of the other Cadets left her rabbit in my quarters with a note asking me to take care of it while she was away during Winter Vacation. I misunderstood and did indeed take care of the creature, though not as she had intended." He shook his head. "I was in such trouble. Have you ever had a Vulcan look at you totally deadpan and tell you how rude it is to eat someone's pet?" He chuckled. "It is quite a sight to see. I purchased her a new rabbit, but I do not believe she had ever forgiven me for that one." Jynea smiled, "Vulcan's tend to avoid me," She sat up straight and took on a Vulcan non-expression, "Apparently my psychic resonance is of such a level in which they can pick up the echo of my pre-spoken words and my emotions." She relaxed and grinned, "From what I understand it's like claws down a glass window to them." It probably wasn't polite OR proper to be amused at upsetting a Vulcan, but they just seemed to *ask* to be teased by being so very stoic. "But I will advise its probably best to ask first, eat later, when it comes to living creatures. Me, I'll stick to replicators." She shot the device in question a black look, "No matter how easily way-laid." Serixs listened and finished off his mug of coffee, then set it back in the replicator to be broken down. "Now, Counsellor, Shall we plan our revenge?" He asked with a very scary look. Okay, well, he probably didn't mean it to look like he was planning on hunting down the perpetrator to skin them alive, but there was only so many ways a big, pointy-toothed mouth could be interpreted. "Er, revenge?" she didn't quite squeek. (Reply Serixs) Revenge really wasn't her style. She was a counsellor, she was supposed to prevent conflict and defuse such situations. "Personally, I'd challenge him to a karonga match." A game of Klingon design, it was as much physical shoving and bumping as it was about getting the stick into the opponents bucket. "Perhaps teach our unknown malevolant that he should choose his victims more wisely without interferring with the laws of the Federation?" She gave Serixs a hopeful look. He was a member of Starfleet, he couldn't possibly be as bloodthirsty as he was portraying himself. (reply Serixs) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:14) The turbolift had been fairly quiet during it's downwards decent through the lift tube, but as the doors slid aside on Deck three with their familiar swishing sound the Security chief stepped out into the organized chaos of a ship struggling to cope with it's wounded, whilst general crew & repair teams ran past her in both directions as they raced to where they were needed most. Upon her approach to sickbay itself however, she was suddenly met with the sound of yet more chaos coming from within as various medical terminology began to assail her ears at nearing the door. "Quick.....he's going to....Dermal regenerator, quickly.....".... then another voice over all the others suddenly added to the miasma of unfamiliar terms. "I need the subdermal scalpel.... arrest...Leporazine" None of it made any sense to the security chief of course but upon actually entering the sickbay, Yelena could see that they were more than a little busy with casualties from both the enemy vessel & their own. Various races could be seen occupying all of the biobeds along the far side wall whilst Williams's team ran frantically from one patient to another in their attempts to keep those still actually breathing, breathing! Scanning quickly around the medical centre amidst all this chaos, the Security chief suddenly trod upon something wet on the floor, her foot sliding slightly upon it as she quickly regained her balance, then grabbing the attention of one of Williams's nurses she quickly enquired as to his current wherabouts. "The last I heard he was out tending crew on deck seven, I think there was a hull breach", said the nurse as she quickly excused herself & rushed over to one of the Doctors working on a patient nearby before Yelena could even say another word. Vasilyovna then lifted her foot slightly, noticing as she did so that what she had just trodden in seemed to resemble something that was supposed to be inside the body & not outside of it. The thought made her cringe as the sinewy material simply flopped to the floor with a wet splat whilst she momentarily screwed up her face & then quickly recovered her sense of duty. The Captain's words still rung in her ears as she left the bridge of course, "get down to Sickbay, make sure the President is unhurt & post additional security there", he had said intoning the sentiment that where they had walking wounded actually from the Zulu Alpha, the risk of assassination from a loyal Doenitz sympathizer was still very much a possibility. Once that had been arranged her orders had been to report to Transporter room two with a security team in preparation for a beamover to the Gorn vessel. Apparently the Gorn themselves had snatched the Alpha's CO from the still pressurized saucer section of his destroyed ship & were now requesting arrangements to bring him back to Spectre. The precise words used had actually been, "Come & remove this filth from our vessel before someone feels the urge to disembowel & consume it", at any other time that might have been comical but the fact remained that they could learn more from this man alive than if he was served up on a tray as a Gorn delicacy! Yelena pondered the thought briefly... ~I don't know, maybe it might be for the best~ The arrival of the Doctor however snapped her out of her macabre thoughts in an instance, he had walked in with two crewmen, both with burn marks on their uniforms & blood seeping from various extremities. "The President Doctor, where is he now?", said Vasilyovna. (Reply Williams) At least something had worked out fine, if they had lost the man now, this would have all been for nothing. "I'm posting further security", said Yelena glancing around the room as she spoke, "with Zulu Alpha crew on board I don't want to take any chances of someone getting close to him", she added. (Reply Williams) "The ship is stable considering our damage, repair teams are working on the worst of this now", said the Security chief. "But I can see you have your own problems here Doctor, I am needed in Transporter room Two", she added. "Apparently we are bringing over the man responsible for all of..... this", she said motioning her hand around the bloodbath that was sickbay. (Reply Williams, Any) "No need Doctor, the Gorn have assured us they have the facilities to cope, if your needed however you will be the first to know", said Yelena as she spun about on her heel to make for the door again. (Reply Williams, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 19:16) Andrew entered sickbay and helped the crewman onto a bio-bed. The place was in controlled chaos with a big emphasis on the chaos. ~Ow my. This is going to be nasty~ “I’ll be back in a second okay.” He stepped back and was going to find Douwsy when some one spoke to him. "The President Doctor, where is he now?", Andrew turned to see Vasilyovna standing near him. "Um he's fine. We moved him into a side room, so that he settled." He pointed in the direction of a door which had a member of the presidential security team guarding it. "I'm posting further security", "with Zulu Alpha crew on board I don't want to take any chances of someone getting close to him", Andrew nodded. "Good idea. How are we doing?" "The ship is stable considering our damage, repair teams are working on the worst of this now", "But I can see you have your own problems here Doctor, I am needed in Transporter room Two", "Apparently we are bringing over the man responsible for all of..... this", Andrew nodded. "Are there any other casualties coming our way?" "No need Doctor, the Gorn have assured us they have the facilities to cope, if your needed however you will be the first to know", Andrew nodded as Vasilyovna turned and left. He then went and found Douwsy. “Talk to me.” “We have gotten survivors from the enemy ship. Most of them are in a critical condition.” "Dr Williams you are needed in surgery." Andrew turned and saw Nurse Marchall moving a patient towards the theatre. ~Okay time to be decisive~ He turned to O'Harper who was working on a patient nearby. "Dr O'Harper. Contact The marines and see if we can nab a few corpsmen if you think we need it." He nodded to Douwsy. Knowing that he would be called it needed "If any one needs me I'll be in surgery." With that he left the madness that was sickbay and went into theatre. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS HOOD - Guest Quarters - Ensign(JG) Serixs Ssarummon - 19:17) Serixs had been thinking. What would be the best way to get back at those that had messed with his and the Cousellor's replicators. Something that wouldn't end up killing the crewmen responsible, but would certainly make them think twice. "Er, revenge?" he heard the counsellor say to him. He nodded his head with a low guttural chuckle. "Yes," he hissed. "Revenge. If they did this to us, they will undoubtably do this to others." He stood his full height of well over two meters. "It is our duty as Starfleet officers to set an example to the lower members of the crew." ~Some example,~ He thought to himself. ~Plotting revenge because of coffee. But coffee is sacred. If nothing else, he learned THAT at the Academy.~ "Personally, I'd challenge him to a karonga match." Kreung said to him. He tilted his head a moment, thinking about that game. He'd heard of it from some of the extremely few Klingons at the Academy. "Perhaps teach our unknow malevolant that he should choose his victims more wisely without interferring with the laws of the Federation?" He gave that some thought. It was an interesting proposal, but no. He was simply too big for that. "No, Counsellor," He said to her. "In a physical competition, I would end up breaking him," he said, chuckling softly before turning to look at her replicator. An idea was forming. "This will need to be a battle of the minds," he added before keying into her Replicator once more. "Computer, who was the last to log this Replicator out for maintenance?" he asked of the computer. It was certainly not classified. [Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Thomas] He looked over his shoulder at the Counsellor once more, grinning again, then turned back to the Replicator. (reply Kreung) "And computer, who was the last to log the Replicator in Guest Quarters 24-J out for maintenance?" he asked, referring to his own quarters. [Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Thomas] "The one and only," he said with another malicious little chuckle. "And where, computer, is Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Thomas?" [Petty Officer Thomas is on Holodeck 1] Serixs looked at the Counsellor once more, his thick tail swaying back and forth slightly. "It would seem our illustrious Petty Officer Thomas is enjoying some off-duty time," he said. (reply Kreung) Serixs nodded with another chuckle. "Computer, what program, pray tell, is currently running on Holodeck 1," he asked. Again not classified information. [White-water rapids program level 3] the computer responded to him. He turned to look at Kreung once more and considered. "How could we use that?" he asked her, wanting her input on the matter as he noticed the rabbit now sniffing at his large bare feet. He reached down, scooping the rabbit up and holding it as one might hold a cat in one hand with his arm underneath him for support while he stroked the bunny along its back with the other. It would seem he at least had some small inkling about how to handle an animal without eating it. Doing so, though, he looked every bit the mad scientist, especially with that sharp, toothy, and feral grin on his face. (reply Kreung) (posted by Don Jones) (USS HOOD - Guest Quarters - Ensign Jynea Kreung - 19:18) "No, Counsellor," He said to her. "In a physical competition, I would end up breaking him," he said, chuckling softly before turning to look at her replicator. An idea was forming. "This will need to be a battle of the minds," he added before keying into her Replicator once more. Well, the scientist probably had a point, even an accidental tail slap could probably break most humanoid's legs. She felt vaguely ashamed that she'd thought a *scientist* would choose brawn over brain. "Computer, who was the last to log this Replicator out for maintenance?" he asked of the computer. It was certainly not classified. [Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Thomas] He looked over his shoulder at the Counsellor once more, grinning again, then turned back to the Replicator. Jynea wasn't sure if that grin was supposed to invite her into the conspiracy or make her feel glad she wasn't the pre-dinner snack. "And computer, who was the last to log the Replicator in Guest Quarters 24-J out for maintenance?" he asked, referring to his own quarters. [Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Thomas] "The one and only," he said with another malicious little chuckle. "And where, computer, is Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Thomas?" [Petty Officer Thomas is on Holodeck 1] Serixs looked at the Counsellor once more, his thick tail swaying back and forth slightly. "It would seem our illustrious Petty Officer Thomas is enjoying some off-duty time," he said. Jynea wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to add to this process beyond trying to look supportive and wise. Hopefully she fooled Serixs, but she doubted it. Some counsellor SHE was, she had no idea where the man was going with this. "So it seems?" she offered when he seemed to be expecting some sort of input. Serixs nodded with another chuckle. "Computer, what program, pray tell, is currently running on Holodeck 1," he asked. Again not classified information. [White-water rapids program level 3] the computer responded to him. He turned to look at Kreung once more and considered. "How could we use that?" he asked her, seemingly expectantly. She almost jumped out of her skin when he picked up Mark. She was about to yelp when he just started petting the very startled animal. Apparently curosity wasn't going to kill the rabbit.. this time. "Well.." Jynea thought, "I would think someone who messes with replicators of travellors for his own amusement likes to brag about his abilities in supposedly dangerous activities," she offered tentatively, "but would have gyro-stabilizers initiated for the raft." She was pretty sure white-water rapids programs were the ones that you rode in a rubber boat down a river. She'd had to do something similar as part of wilderness training, her professor had been impressed an Orion could get even greener. "..which would be counter to the level three rating, so maybe restore the program to factory standard?" That would be revenge for making her replicator factory standard, right? She wasn't really very good at this whole irony/revenge thing. Mark seemed happy enough despite the maniac grin on the humanoid's face. He was making the happy-tooth-grinding noise again and butted his head into Serixs' hand to get him to stroke his nose and ears. Poor rabbit, had to train every humanoid he met. (reply Serixs) (posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Theatre - CMO - Williams - 19:19) Andrew looked at the patient on the table in front of him. The woman had been crushed by a falling bulkhead. As well as shattering her left arm , it had broken two of her ribs which had pierce the upper lobe of her left lung. Her lung had collapsed as a result and if he did not operate she would die. Even though he new this his hand stopped an inch above the skin. ~ A short time ago this person had been trying to kill me and destroy the ship~ He could not move his hand to begin the operation. ~You are a doctor. It does not matter where this person has come from your job is to treat her. SO DO IT~ He shook the thoughts from his head as he activated the laser scalpel and made his incision. He cut along the left side of the patients chest. “Retractors.” He pulled the skin and carefully cut through the muscle until he got to the ribs. “Forceps.” He gently pulled out the two broken ribs that were embedded in the lung. He immediately heard a whoosh as the air rushed out of the lung. “Dermal regenerator quick.” He moved the dermal regenerator meticulously over the lung to make sure he healed it properly. He watched as the lung inflated. He then placed the two pieces of rib in the gap and using the dermal regenerator joined them to the rest of the rib cage. With a few quick strokes he sealed the muscles and the skin. He looked at the patients vital signs. ~Brilliant. She’s levelling out, lets carry on in case something goes wrong~ He then began to work on the fractures in the left arm. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (GDV Sssharussa - Transporter Room - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 19:20) Captain Zernix had assembled herself, her chief of Security, and her Chief Medical Officer in the transporter room of her ship the moment she received word that a detachment from the Spectre was incoming to pick up the piece of dirt she had stowed in the brig. She stood straight, coming to just under two meters in height, when the greenish-blue pillars of energy appeared on the transporter pads. When the effect cleared, she was face to face with the same human woman that she had seen on the bridge of the Spectre during the communications with Captain T'Vhor. Accompanying the woman was a Security Detachment. It Seemed that the Spectre's CO did not want to take any chances and Zernix could hardly blame him. "Welcome aboard the Gorn Defense Vessel Sssharussa," Captain Zernix said to the group." (reply Vasilyovna) Captain Zernix listened to the Lieutenant speak and nodded, giving her and her team a moment to settle into the warmer, more humid climate and heavier gravity of the Gorn vessel. "This is my Chief of Security, Lieutenant Rousse," She said, motioning to the male Gorn at her right. "And my Chief Medical Officer, Healer Yas," she added, motioning to the taller, more slender Gorn female at her left who was dressed in a uniform of pure white." (reply Vasilyovna) "Please inform your doctor that I am prepared to transport to the Spectre with a medical team, should he require assistance." Yas told Vasilyovna, then nodded to her Captain and turned to step back into the Corridor. They had already secured their dead and their wounded were recovering, so a good portion of the medical staff was available. (reply Vasilyovna) "If you will follow me," Zernix began, "I shall lead you to your prey." With that, Zernix turned and stepped out into the corridor herself, leading the security detail from the Spectre. She walked slightly slow, allowing Vasilyovna a chance to catch up to walk beside her. "Tell me, Lieutenant, how has the Spectre fared?" the Gorn female asked. (reply Vasilyovna) "I see," Zernix said. "It could have been far worse." She added. "Twenty-seven of my people have lost their lives here today." She stopped and looked square at Vasilyovna, the only person from the Spectre that had come aboard and could answer the question that was nagging at her. "I need not know what the Spectre was doing out here, but I must know....." she paused a moment, attempting to find the right words. "Was it all worth it?" It was neither a sarcastic nor flippant question. It was a sincere question from a captain that had seen too many of her people die over the course of her career and wanted the deaths here today, both on the Spectre and the Sssharussa, to have purpose. (reply Vasilyovna) Zernix nodded her head and continued down the corridor. "Then I can write the letters I must with a clear conscience," she said. Finally, the group reached the Brig where, in the Holding Cell, the CO of the Zulu Alpha waited. She nodded to the Security officer on duty and then turned to her Chief of Security. The Gorn lowered the forcefield that was keeping the human in his cell, then stepped aside to let Vasilyovna and her team take him into custody. Before he got far, though, the Gorn Captain looked at him sternly. "I do not care what you think of me, human." She hissed out, now much easier with the UT back online. "But pay heed to my words. You still have a chance to save your soul." She then looked at the Lieutenant once again. "He is yours now." (reply Vasilyovna, Ryan) She nodded once more to the human Lieutenant. "I must return to the bridge," Zernix began. "Warp power has been restored and there is still the chance we will encounter the Romulans." She considered. "I do not feel comfortable leaving the Spectre out here in her condition with the threat of Romulan attack looming. Inform your captain that, despite how I wish not to harm his pride, I am prepared to engage a tractor beam and tow the Spectre to the coordinates of the USS Hood. Good day to you, Lieutenant," she finally said, then turned to her Chief of Security once more. "Escort the Lieutenant's team and her prey back to the transporter room." (reply Vasilyovna) "We shall see, Lieutenant," Zernix said. "I fully expect there will be retaliation for our involvement in these affairs, however I am prepared to face that." She let out a slight smile. "I will not yield nor break to anyone under any circumstances, nor will any other Gorn in the fleet." She nodded once again and disappeared down the corridor to the turbolift. The Chief of Security motioned for Vasilyovna to follow him back to the transporter room. (reply Any) (Posted by Don Jones) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 19:22) The two had taken some time to devise a plan. Serixs, for his part, truly liked the Counsellor's idea. It was simple and elegant. Right to the point. He had a habit of over thinking things and it was good to get a fresh perspective. Once the rabbit, Mark he had come to find out, was tired of being held, the large Gorn set the creature down to let it return to its own devices. "Restoring the program to standard will work," Serixs said with a chuckle. "Perhaps a little something extra for the trouble." He grinned a bit and nodded. "Shall we, Counsellor?" he added, making for the doorway into the corridor. Indeed the plan was forming, oh yes. He had an idea. An awful idea. An awful wonderful idea. Set the program to default. Remove the gyro stabilizers from the Petty Officer's raft, and turn the entire river into Chocolate pudding. That should get the message across. (Reply Kreung) Serixs kept pace, his back hunched slightly as he walked. Occasionally, he scratched at the shoulders of his uniform. He would have to remember to ask Captain T'Vhor if he could issue a uniform variant. The scales on his arms and shoulders kept hanging on the sleeves. It was one reason all Gorn uniforms were sleeveless. "I owe you a glass of Gorn Miridor when this is all over." He said to the Orion woman he walked with. "You will not find it in any of the replicators and from what I am told, it is a highly pleasant drink amongst non-Gorn." (Reply Kreung) "Please, Counsellor," he said as they made their way to the holodeck. "Call me Serixs." He chuckled. "I have never been a fan of honorifics. When I earned my PhD on Earth, I was unaware it came with a title, then in the Academy it was always Dr. Ssarumon this and Dr. Ssarumon that." He let out a soft chuckle. "Had I know it came with a title, I would have turned it down." He said to her with a smile, trying to help put her at ease. He could tell this was way outside of the counsellor's style. Truth be told, it was outside of his as well, but sometimes one must make examples. (Reply Kreung) "It pleases me to be able to officially meet you, then," he said softly. "I suspect you and I will make an interesting team." He pondered for a moment. "We shall have to try, though, not to confound our Vulcan/Betazoid Captain on the Spectre." He looked down the corridor watching as the other members of the Hood's crew gave them both odd glances. "I suppose they are not partial to the color green," he said to Kreung, chuckling softly. (Reply Kreung) "Shows what they know." He looked at her once more. "I am rather fond of the color green myself." He grinned, then pondered. "When we arrive Counsellor, I will work on the Holodeck controls. If you would please, devise a suitable distraction until I am ready to engage the program modification." He took a moment to think about what would distract a human male, then dropped his face into his hand when it came to him and he realized how some humans are very one-track minded. "Nothing that would put you into harms way or embarrass you, though." Now, though, he was the one embarrassed but tried not to let it show as they made their way on. (reply Kreung) (Posted by Don Jones) (GDV Sssharussa - Transporter Room - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:23) From the moment of their arrival on the Ssharussa's transport pads, the security detail felt the distinct change from the living conditions that they were used to onboard the Spectre, it was much warmer here & there was a damp humidity in the air to an extent that Vasilyovna wondered how the Gorn managed to keep their electrical circuits from corroding or simply frying. Stepping down from the pads themselves however brought further differences as each of the Spectre crew began to feel the heaviness in their limbs caused by the change in the normal gravity on the Gorn vessel. "Welcome aboard the Gorn Defense Vessel Ssharussa,", said one of the Gorn waiting there to meet them. Yelena nodded once & then approached the tall, imposing looking figure. "Thank you, Lieutenant Yelena Vasilyovna, chief of security USS Spectre", said Vasilyovna. "Ensign's Yates, Palmer & Hoolahan make up my security team & are at your service", she added motioning her hand to each in turn to introduce them before returning her attention back to the Gorn standing before her. Instinctively, she had of course already glanced at the uniforms & insignia of the Gorn in an attempt to identify a hierarchy of some sort, or perhaps even a gender! It was clear that the one she now faced was of high rank, probably the Captain but Yelena could not be certain for sure as the Gorn went on to introduce first the Chief of Security, & then a medic who immediately offered the assistance of her medical department if it was needed by the Spectre before leaving the room herself. The high ranking Gorn had referred to the security officer as 'Her chief of security', so that pretty much identified that this was indeed the Ssharussa's Captain as she turned towards the door & then beckoned them onwards. "If you will follow me, I shall lead you to your prey", said the Gorn as they stepped through the doors & into the corridors of this huge vessel. Vasilyovna wiped at her brow briefly to remove a thin sheen of sweat breaking out upon it as she progressed down the tall, green tinged corridors, then she took note of the other Gorn continuing on their duties around them. Some looked on curiously, perhaps having never seen a Human up close before, others however gave a cursory glance & then continued on their way after acknowledging their Captain. "Tell me Lieutenant, how has the Spectre fared?", said the Gorn Captain. "Fortunately not as bad as we first feared we would", said Vasilyovna, "we took heavy damage to some decks, fourteen of our crew are now in sickbay, six of those in a critical condition", said the Security chief. "But we have encountered this vessel before & sustained far more damage then", she added. "I see, It could have been far worse, twenty-seven of my people have lost their lives here today.", said the Gorn Captain as she stopped & turned directly towards the much shorter Vasilyovna. "I need not know what the Spectre was doing out here, but I must know....was it all worth it?", said the Gorn, clearly thinking now of not only their dead but that of the other vessels involved here also. "I sincerely hope so Captain", said Vasilyovna, "wether the Federation prospers now or falls depends very much on our mission here now", she added. "Any lives lost are never a cause for anything other than solemnity, what has been lost here today will not have been in vain so long as we complete our mission", said Vasilyovna hoping that she had in some way made sense to the Gorn Captain. They had after all risked their lives & their vessel to assist them here now. "Then I can write the letters I must with a clear conscience," said the Gorn Captain as they resumed their walk down the corridor leading towards what would turn out to be the Ssharussa's brig. From the moment that Vasilyovna looked the man in the eye as he sat behind that forcefield, she could sense the twisted, bitterness festering within him. He positively oozed contempt for everyone but himself & had clearly found it very easy to fall into line with Doenitz's corrupted & immoral ideals. The man himself of course, took one look at Vasilyovna's uniform & the rank insignia & cast a look of utter contempt in her direction as the Gorn security officer lowered the forcefield to allow her & her team to enter. For a moment, Yelena thought back to the words that the Gorn had used when they had called them & looking at the haggered unshaved man before her now, she decided that if the Gorn had in fact eaten him, he would very probably just have given them an upset stomach. Yates, Palmer & Hoolahan just stared in contempt before moving towards him & then taking his arms from both sides to lift him into a standing position whilst he cast a smug look towards the Gorn Captain who responded as though she may have had telepathic tendencies. "I do not care what you think of me, human.....But pay heed to my words. You still have a chance to save your soul.", said the Gorn before turning towards the Spectre's security chief as though pleased to be seeing the back of him. (Reply Ryan, IYW) "I must return to the bridge,", said the Gorn, "Warp power has been restored and there is still the chance we will encounter the Romulans.", she added as she then went on to offer the services of the Ssharussa's tractor beam to tow the Spectre to the safety of Federation space if need be. "I'm sure that won't be necessary Captain, the Engineering team are confident that warp power can be resumed very soon but I thank you for the offer of assistance", said Vasilyovna. "Captain T'Vhor would not wish your vessel to remain in the danger of Romulan space any longer than need be", said Yelena, "you have done so much to assist us already", she added. The Gorn Captain simply nodded accordingly. "Escort the Lieutenant's team and her prey back to the transporter room.", she said addressing the security officer nearby. "I would like to thank you on behalf of the Federation for your assistance here today Captain, I trust this will not be the last time our two species enjoy an alliance together", said Vasilyovna. "We shall see, Lieutenant," said the Gorn Captain. "I fully expect there will be retaliation for our involvement in these affairs, however I am prepared to face that........", said the Gorn Captain. "I will not yield nor break to anyone under any circumstances, nor will any other Gorn in the fleet.", she added with clear determination before turning about & returning forthwith to her duties. Yelena wiped at her brow once more & then turned to the trio standing behind her flanked by the Gorn security officer. "Ok, let's get him back to the Spectre", said Vasilyovna & together they followed the Gorn tasked with leading them back to the transporter room. (reply Any, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:27) Once on the ground, Mark hopped to his litterbox. He didn't seem to have any qualms about using the facilities with an audience. In the instructions provided with his gear, Jynea had been assured that the bunny was "fixed" and there wouldn't be "odour problems". Jynea wasn't quite sure what that meant, but refused to worry about it until she had to. Serixs' voice dragged her back to the matter at hand. "Restoring the program to standard will work," Serixs said with a chuckle. "Perhaps a little something extra for the trouble." He grinned a bit and nodded. "Shall we, Counsellor?" he added, making for the doorway into the corridor. (Reply None) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 19:28) Serixs listened to the counsellor speak about her inability to dance as well as the lack of pom-poms. That much had escaped him. He was not quite sure what she was speaking of since the Gorn had no such things as cheerleaders. "I am afraid, Jynea," he began, making sure not to mangle her name, "that I will have to ask you about that later. I have no idea what a pom-pom is." he chuckled softly, letting his mind work on the task at hand. Not to mention that he had to clear the embarrassment from his face from his earlier statement. Upon their arrival at the holodeck, Serixs also noted that the outside controls her locked. He let out what could best be described as a low guttural hissing sound. Certainly, it was a sound one would not want to hear in a darkened corridor. "Can you orientate the program to call the door and arch there? You can remain out of sight and I'll distract." He looked at where the counsellor was pointing and saw the rock formation. It would provide perfect cover for what needed to be done. "I do believe so." He said, then hunched down and opening the panel beneath the controls. He tilted his head, looking at the circuitry and chuckling softly. "Let us see. Still using an isolinear interface. That makes things easier," He added. He started to pull the chips and replace them in different slots, bypassing the control lockouts placed on the external control panel. When he was done, the control panel lit up, showing it was ready. "Perfect," he hissed. He quickly redirected the entrance and nodded to her before issuing the command to open the doors. The two of them stepped into the Holodeck. Serixs took in the surroundings. It was a lot like Ghdar 2, but far too cold. He ducked down, moving behind one of the larger rocks and commanded the computer to display the holodeck interface controls on its face. He looked up at Jynea from where he was crouched down, watching her as she moved toward the river and started her little distraction. He had to give her credit. Dancing and pom-poms might not be her forte, but she was a very good actress. He chuckled to himself and started the program modifications in the queue. "Let us see." He hissed to himself as he started entering the control changes and was thankful that his prey was not quite intelligent enough to place a password on the holodeck program. "Restore program defaults..." He added, then chuckled again. "Remove stabilizers from the raft...Replace the water in the river with Chocolate Pudding." The final one was the best, he chuckled the most and his thick tail lashed back and forth. "Computer." He spoke again in standard. "Set password protection on these modifications unless a passphrase is spoken." [Enter passphrase] the computer responded to him. "Pretty please with sprinkles..." He hissed out, chuckling softly once more. "Set time delay for thirty seconds," he said, then nodded. "Engage." He looked up, just as Jynea was returning, soaking wet. He blinked a moment in concern, but shrugged. She was unhurt. He turned, making his way for the exit now and holding the door open for her to exit after him. "I think you owe me two of those Miridor." he heard Jynea say to him. "Consider it done," he responded as they made their way towards the turbolift down the corridor from the holodeck. He waited a moment before going in, letting it be noticed that he had engaged the holodeck to not close the doors after they had exited. "Wait for it.." he said quietly, and then it came. There was a crashing sound in the holodeck, then a rather loud sound of a body hitting chocolate pudding. A sound not unlike *SPLOOT*. All of this was followed by the voice of the petty officer. "What the hell!?!" was heard yelled from inside, illiciting quite the chuckle from the large green lizard before he stepped into the turbolift with the counsellor. (USS Hood - Corridor - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:28) "A little extra?" Jynea repeated, half-jogging to catch up, walking backwards while she watched the door close. She'd changed the settings to not let anything under two feet tall open the automatic sensor, but that didn't mean a small sneaky, fast footed bunny couldn't get out before the doors closed. She turned around and caught up to the long legged scientist. She barely came up to his belt, she imagined he hit his head a lot when he first got to the Academy. Thankfully, Serixs seemed to notice her short legs were having trouble and hunched his back and slowed down. He seemed to have some sort of itch, however and kept scratching at his arms and shoulders. Maybe the replicator had also spit out an ill-fitting uniform. "I owe you a glass of Gorn Miridor when this is all over." He said to the Orion woman he walked with. "You will not find it in any of the replicators and from what I am told, it is a highly pleasant drink amongst non-Gorn." "Only if it's non-alcoholic, Ensign" Jynea replied with a smile, "I'm afraid I'm a very boring Orion." "Please, Counsellor," he said as they made their way to the holodeck. "Call me Serixs." He chuckled. "I have never been a fan of honorifics. When I earned my PhD on Earth, I was unaware it came with a title, then in the Academy it was always Dr. Ssarumon this and Dr. Ssarumon that." He let out a soft chuckle. "Had I know it came with a title, I would have turned it down." He said to her with a smile, trying to help put her at ease. Every time Serixs smiled, the old joke of "What do you do if you see a crocodile smile?" ran through her head. She was sure he was just trying to be reassuring, but really, every time he did she wanted to find a rock to hide behind. "I"m still working toward my doctorate, so I guess that makes me non-Doctor Jynea." she tried to give him a teasing smile, but she knew it was a bit wobbly. "It pleases me to be able to officially meet you, then," he said softly. "I suspect you and I will make an interesting team." He pondered for a moment. "We shall have to try, though, not to confound our Vulcan/Betazoid Captain on the Spectre." Jynea also noticed the Hood's crew was giving them a wide berth. "I suppose they are not partial to the color green," he said to Kreung, chuckling softly. "Or they're worried about your oxygen intake levels." Jynea teased, "Perhaps worried that there's not enough around you for more than a small Orion for them to breath." She tilted her head to one side, "or perhaps they're worried green is contagious and they'll start to clash with their uniforms." "Shows what they know." He looked at her once more. "I am rather fond of the color green myself." He grinned, then pondered. "When we arrive Counsellor, I will work on the Holodeck controls. If you would please, devise a suitable distraction until I am ready to engage the program modification." The large man paused. "Nothing that would put you into harms way or embarrass you, though." So THAT'S what blood flush mixed with green skin looked like. No wonder everyone looked at her strangely every time she stuck her foot in it. Tho, really, she suspected her's was more noticeable since the purple tinge was only around the tiny facial scales. "Oh, so no pom-poms and bikini's, got it." Before Serxis could respond, she continued, "Good thing too, I can't dance." (reply Serixs) They arrived at the holodeck, and as predicted, the outside controls were locked out. Apparently their prankster got pranks played on him *all the time*. The observation display was on, Jynea decided that fitted with her rough sketch of the petty officer. After all, he had to be able to have a replay to brag and any chance people wandering by just *had* to be impressed by his actions on the rough river. Jynea pointed to a spot in the room that would remain behind rocks, "Can you orientate the program to call the door and arch there? You can remain out of sight and I'll distract." (reply Serixs) Jynea watched the scientist show a technical skill she rapidly envied. She could barely run standard programs. Good thing *one* of them knew what she was doing. Once he nodded and the door opened, Jynea slipped in. She wasn't surprised by the crystal clear blue sky, but she wasn't expecting the extra bright sun-star in the sky. Squinting she guessed it was Alpha Centauri from the sky and star. (Reply Serixs) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 19:28) There was no doubt whatsoever that the Zulu Alpha had hit them hard yet again, they had taken damage to a number of decks, one momentarily depressurizing due to micro fractures appearing in the outer hull after the final torpedo had slammed into them. The important thing now however was that they were still here but even so, they were far from out of the woods yet. The Captain now stood before the viewscreen, the debris field of the Zulu Alpha now clearly visible within it & scattered before them, it's composite parts floating aimlessly in no particular direction. The Spectre's scans for lifesigns had identified only thirty nine of the Alpha's crew still alive within small sections of the engineering hull that had not been exposed to space after the ship had been ripped apart. Of those thirty nine, only two had been lost, the remainder having been brought aboard & either placed in secure holding cells or sent directly to sickbay depending on their condition. Science had reported minimal concentrations of antimatter scattered around the debris field, but those that remained still caused small but spectacular explosions in the distance as the hull fragments collided with them. One of those had just detonated not too far from their position now & the Captain felt it wise to move his vessel further away just in case. "Can you tie in the sensor data to the maneuvering thrusters Lieutenant Nolly's?", said the Captain turning to address the science officer, "we could then program the helm to automatically keep us a safe distance from any antimatter residue detected in the area", said the Captain. (Reply Nolly's) The Captain moved towards the communications console & leaned one hand to the right of the comms officer on duty there. "transmit our current mission & operational status to the Steel Talons, secure channel, Admiral LoDona's eyes only", said the Captain. "Aye sir", said the communications officer as the CO moved off towards the Engineering console. "Do we have warp power?", said the Captain. "Not yet sir, Engineering crews are currently working on the problem, the warp core has been taken offline & will need a cold start", said the Engineering officer manning the console, "that in itself is risky sir as you well know" "Risky or not Lieutenant, we cannot remain here any longer than is absolutely necessary", said the Captain as he again moved off in the direction of the turbolift. "Inform me the moment we have warp capacity, I will be in sickbay if I'm needed", said the Captain as Lieutenant Commander Tovardi immediately followed suit. "Lieutenant Nolly's, you have the bridge"..... (Reply Nolly's, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Hood - Jynea's Guest Quarters - Rabbit Mark - 19:30) Mark sat by the big doors for a couple minutes before he decided the food provider wasn't coming back. She was a nice shade of green, but she didn't taste like lettuce. He hopped over to wear his bowl of water was and took a few licks. He sniffed the water, sitting down to study the ripples. He didn't want water. He sniffed at the empty bowl beside it in case some salad had appeared in it, unfortunately not. He still had pellets, and plenty of hay in the litterbox and the manger on the wall, but he didn't want pellets or hay. He hopped back to the couch and nibbled on it. The material was an interesting texture, but it tasted stale. The wood tastes false and wasn't very fun to chew, it turned to powder in his mouth. Mark hopped into the sleeping room and took a leap up onto the bed. He tasted the covers, but they too tasted musty. The pillow was fun to dig at and with a bit of wrestling and nibbling produced a very fun white substance he could nose back up into the air as he freed it from the pillow. Tiring of the game but not tired, Mark gave a few tentative hops on the bed, enjoying the sensation of going up again with less effort, his ears floating slower than his body and the white stuff dancing back up into the air. Hop, bounce, bounce, bounce. After a few minutes Mark hopped off the bed and onto a squeaky duck. He startled himself and dived under the bed. Seeing the duck wasn't preparing to attack, the rabbit crawled back out and poked the duck with his nose. It didn't squeak. He grabbed its bill in his mouth and tossed it away. The duck hit the wall and with a sad squeak slid down. Mark did a hop into the air, shaking hind quarters in glee. He had defeated the evil, scary, duck. Hop. Hop. Hop. He was back in the living room. Still bored. He hopped back to the door, but it still didn't open. He periscoped up on his hind legs to study the matter when the doors opened. This perked his interest as he saw the world beyond. Back on all fours Mark cautiously stuck his nose out and sniffed. He could smell pine? beyond. Sniff, sniff, crawled forward. There didn't seem to be any food providers in the hallway. Which meant there was no one to stop him exploring. Hop. Hop. Hop. Now, where was this smell coming from? (Reply anyone :) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Deck three - Captain T'Vhor - 19:31) "Nevertheless, my orders are to transport the President directly to the Steel Talons Lieutenant Commander, you can either assist me in that course or you can keep a discrete distance", said the Captain, much to Tovardi's obvious annoyance. The man had been the presidents personal body guard for a considerable time now & he above all felt that his place was beside the man himself, making decisions in regards his safety & his well being, not some Starfleet Captain that had an entire crew to think about. It made no difference of course, the Vulcan hybrid CO had been ordered specifically by LoDona himself to escort Nell to the desired coordinates, & if Tovardi didn't like that then he could take it up with the 52nd fleets Commander in chief himself when & if they finally completed this mission. As for now, the Captain needed to make his presence felt where it was most needed & that was sickbay. (Reply None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Hood - Holodeck Two - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:32) "Just wait a sec Janice, I'll see how long is left on the program," Jynea called over her shoulder as she "accidentally" stepped into the river. Faith in safeties were a wonderful thing as she went in with a sploosh, coincidently, of course, five feet from the petty officer's raft. "Glurp!" she managed. "Ack!" Said the scrawny Thomas. He managed to direct the raft over and grabbed the scruff of her uniform and between the two of them she landed in the raft. Jynea wasn't surprised that the raft didn't tip on her entrance and only gently swayed with her presence. She really hoped that Serixs had thought to put a delay on the program to give them a chance to get free before execution. You could do that, right? "Are you alright, Ensign?" the young humanoid asked. Jynea got a look up into a barely out of puberty face and stifled a sigh. She'd seen THAT look before, one track minded male meets counsellor in soaking wet uniform. "Er, this isn't the Calaidria column." Jynea managed with a vapid smile. "I thought you were running Sydric Minor." She let out a giggle that made her teeth twitch. This didn't have the intended effect of alienation, instead the humanoid stuttered and blushed something about the program and rafting. "Er, just let me off here, k hun?" Jynea fluttered her eyelashes and dragged the tiller to the right to bounce them off the narrow walls, she hit the red control button, hoping it was the standard 'stop.' The raft lurched to a hover. Jynea tittered and slid out of the raft. "Sorry for disturbing you Petty Officer, we'll try Holodeck three. Maybe we'll see you in the lounge later, k?" She gave a little wave and got before Mr Ryan could find his voice. Fat chance she was going to the lounge, but she didn't want him to follow her. Thinking of ways to dye Serixs tail pink for getting her into this, Jynea ducked around the rocks and was happy to see said tail flicking out the exit. Enough time, she supposed and she followed out. She followed the Gorn to the nearest turbolift and shook her wet hair out of her face. "I think you owe me two of those Miridor." (Reply Serixs) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Captain T'Vhor - 19:33) At first sight of the carnage the Alpha had caused, the Spectre's commanding officer visibly frowned in response. To some this may have seemed a little strange for one of Vulcan decent trained as he was in the Kolinahr rituals, but one had to remember however, that T'Vhor was not entirely of Vulcan decent for his Betazoid half often showed & would occasionally gain precedence over his character. The Doctor of course was now wrist deep in some unfortunate crewmans abdomen & clearly performing his level best to keep the man alive, nurses, dutiful as ever ran from biobed to biobed helping where needed as the monitors pinged & beeped above each patients head while the Captain moved tentatively amongst them, the concern for their welfare now in evidence within him. He felt it unwise now though to disturb the Doctor or any of his team as they worked, Tovardi of course was already gone, he had headed off down the short corridor leading away from sickbay which housed the small rooms & it was there where the Captain went next. Upon entering the room housing the President, the Captain was immediately targeted by a hand phazer in the grip of one of the Presidents loyal, if not overzealous guards, it had been quickly lowered the moment it's user had realized who had just walked in of course but the Captain didn't ask any questions. After all it was he who insisted on tightening the security here. Approaching the bed upon which the President lay, T'Vhor soon noticed that the man was drifting between states of consciousness, his mind however was alive with images that invaded his own like shards of glass penetrating painfully into it. Being a hybrid, the Captain's telepathic abilities were often limited in strength of course but there were times when they became decidedly focused & strong & now was such a time. T'Vhor closed his eyes & his mind tightly & then concentrated on controlling his own emotions, it was difficult at first but soon he felt the familiar quiet of logic begin slowing the impulses to a more managable level & then finally, the pain subsided. It was then that he could see the Presidents Demons. "President Nell", said the Captain, "do you hear me sir, are you aware of where you are?", he asked. (Reply Nell, IYW) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Hood - Holodeck Two - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:34) There was a crashing sound in the holodeck, then a rather loud sound of a body hitting chocolate pudding. A sound not unlike *SPLOOT*. All of this was followed by the voice of the petty officer. "What the hell!?!" was heard yelled from inside, illiciting quite the chuckle from the large green lizard before he stepped into the turbolift with the counsellor. Jynea had to admit, the scientist did do good work, she could swear she could smell chocolate as they walked away from the closing doors. Of course, of the perpetrators of this little prank, the petty officer knew her face. She was pretty sure they'd be off ship, or she could play dumb Orion girl, before the anti-matter hit the chamber however! (Reply None) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - Zulu Alpha CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 19:39) Ryan had remained silent for the majority of his trip to the Spectre, has had his Federation escort detail. After they had materialized onboard the Spectre, he spoke, "Finally, I hope we'll all get the stench of Gorn flesh out of our uniforms," he remarked. (reply Vasilyovna) Ryan rolled his eyes, "Indeed, Lieutenant Vasilyovna," he remarked. (reply Vasilyovna, iyw) Ryan smirked, "Don't act surprised. I practically memorized all records and reports we had on the Spectre's senior staff before I undertook this mission. Tell me, Yelena, do you dream of Baikonur at night?" he said with a sadistic smile while he was escorted out and into the stainless steel corridor. (reply Vasilyovna) "The records are quite interesting, Lieutenant," the man explained, "Perhaps sometime during our little pleasure cruise you can show me one of your paintings." (reply Vasilyovna) Ryan shrugged her comment off, "Isn't it embarrassing that you weren't promoted to First Officer? I mean, Tactical Officers usually are favored, and you have experance with this ship and crew. Instead they import some counselor who was a rank lower than you. How does that make you feel?" he pryed. (reply Vasilyovna) "Have you read Rogers' file? His daddy was a captain, and his daddy before him. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Thats LoDona's Fleet for you," Ryan quipped, carefully watching the security chief's eyes. (reply Vasilyovna, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Jefferies Tube 41-D - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 19:40) "It's over there sir, wedged into the primary coolant ducts", said Palmer as both he & the MXO knelt about four metres from the device itself. "I can't tell from here but I'm pretty sure that it's triggered by proximity & interference to any of the detonator components", he added whilst removing his baseball cap & wiping the sweat from his brow before replacing it again. "Can we beam it out of here?", asked Kowalski hopefully, "not without getting close enough to it to attach a lock on beacon sir", said Palmer, "and if that IS a proximity detonator....Boom!", he added motioning with both hands to visually accompany his choice of wording. Kowalski let out a heavy sigh, this was not what they needed right now, not out here in the middle of hostile territory with a ship going apparently nowhere. "Why did you have to go & use that word for, now I gotta go & shove Krige....he ain't gonna like this one little bit & neither is the Captain", said Kowalski. Palmer shook his head from side to side & then tutted, "well we can't leave it there....you think maybe we can just pretend we haven't found it & it'll go away", he said with a laugh. "Oh yeah", said Kowalski sarcastically, "and may'be Krige will turn into the sugar plum fairy & dance on Doenitz's grave when we bury the SOB", he added. "But anyway, that won't solve our little problem here, we better get someone from ordinance up here to evaluate the damn thing, who's on explosives now?", said Kowalski, "that would be O'hara sir", said Palmer, "it looks fairly stable at the moment, nothing counting down that I can see but I don't wanna swear to that", he added. "Right", said Kowalski, "you better remain here with the baby, I'll see what I can do about getting someone up here ASAP", he added as he turned & backed down the tube. "Sir, I won't be going anyplace soon don't worry", said Palmer as he gently made himself a little more comfortable on the grating. ~Why me~ (Reply Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Transporter Room - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:41) "Finally, I hope we'll all get the stench of Gorn flesh out of our uniforms", said Ryan as he screwed up his face in clear distaste. "Perhaps if we wash hard enough & spend enough time in the sonic showers we may even get the stench of you out of our cloths Da?", said Vasilyovna. Ryan rolled his eyes, "Indeed, Lieutenant Vasilyovna," he remarked. The security chief simply stared at the mans audacity, how had he known her name though she wondered, all he had been told was that a security detail would arrive to bring him to the Spectre. Ryan had simply smirked & then informed her of his apparently detailed access to their own crew roster information. "Tell me, Yelena, do you dream of Baikonur at night?", said Ryan in a clear & obvious attempt to annoy her with just how detailed the info he had access to was. Yelena remained silent & simply refused to bite at the Zulu Alpha CO's attempts to make her do so as the odious man continued on. "The records are quite interesting, Lieutenant, perhaps sometime during our little pleasure cruise you can show me one of your paintings.", he added. "Perhaps I'll come see you in your prison cell & paint a picture of you rotting within it", said Yelena, "perhaps we can send it to your family", she added. Ryan's expression did not change in the slightest, but this was of course further proof & a clear indicator of the mans somewhat tilted mind. For a moment he fell silent as they walked through the corridor towards one of the turbolifts, that silence however was of course short lived for within a minute or so, he was off again. "Isn't it embarrassing that you weren't promoted to First Officer? I mean, Tactical Officers usually are favoured, and you have experience with this ship and crew. Instead they import some counselor who was a rank lower than you. How does that make you feel?", said Ryan. "The position of First Officer was not available of course, plus it is already filled by a very capable officer", said Yelena, "either way I am happy where I am & that is a much better position than the one you are now in", she added. "Have you read Rogers' file? His daddy was a captain, and his daddy before him. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Thats LoDona's Fleet for you,", said Ryan as he continued to spew forth his purile diatribe whilst looking for signs that he might be getting to her. It was at this point however that Yates suddenly butted in with his own comments since the sound of the mans voice was beginning to grate now upon HIS nerves. "Why don't you just give it a rest & save your breath for someone that actually wants to hear your spiel", said Yates. "Honestly, anybody would think that you enjoy the sound of your own voice", he added as he shoved him forwards. (Reply Ryan, IYW) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Armoury - Agent Smith - 19:44) Jo was sitting beside a table playing with grenades. She was not exactly playing. She was checking all the grenades and explosives the marines had used during the boarding. She had escaped Andrew and sickbay. She was getting in the way and decided to do something that she was good at. That meant working with explosives. She carefully placed down a safe grenade in the pile beside her and looked at her companion. “So O’Hara nothing like impressing a girl then playing with high grade explosives?” O’Hara smiled back as she picked up another one. She looked up as major Kowalski entered then room. ~Hmm he looks in a hurry~ She listened to the conversation between O’Hara and Kowalski. ~WHAT A BOMB~ She looked up at Kowalski ~Wonder if they need a hand?~ “Major Kowalski. I’m a qualified demo specialist. I would be happy to help if you want it.” (reply Kowalski ) (reply Kowalski any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Armoury - MXO Major Bruce Kowalski - 19:46) Kowalski entered the Armoury with all the finesse of a charging bull elephant being chased by a mouse, clearly he had something on his mind as he pulled up Corporal O'Hara the moment he had set eyes on him. "I need you now Corporal, your services are, let us say required", said the MXO in standard militaristic clipped overtones. O'Hara immediately put down the grenade he had been rotating slowly in his hand & then jumped to attention as the MXO spoke. "Sir, yes sir....what is it you require Major sir?", he asked as he straightened out his tunic. Kowalski simply leaned forwards towards the Corporal, his hands clasped behind his back now as he did so. "Your bomb defusing skills Corporal O'Hara, would you say they are up to scratch?", said the MXO. O'Hara furrowed his brow at the question as Kowalski scrutinized him up close, this didn't sound good at all & he knew it. "Sir, as good as they ever were sir", said O'Hara somewhat confused now at just where this was all heading. "Then I have a little job for you soldier, something waiting for you in J41-D, something on the verge of going bang if you get my drift", said Kowalski. "A bomb sir, you mean....you want me to.....", stammered the Corporal losing his words there just for a moment as he suddenly realized they had found what they had been looking for. "Defuse the damn thing Corporal, make it safe, disarm it.....what did you think I meant, you think I want you to bake a cake with it?", said Kowalski a little annoyed now at the Corporals apparent lacklustre grasp of the depth of the situation at hand. "No sir, of course sir, I'm on it now", said O'Hara as he moved quickly to a console in order to pull up & investigate the schematics of the Spectre's Jeffery's tube layout. "J41-D....that's...that's on the primary coolant vessels sir", said O'Hara, "it couldn't be in a worse place", he added just as the nearby Smith butted in with some advice. "Major Kowalski. I’m a qualified demo specialist. I would be happy to help if you want it.", said the somewhat short & stocky SFI agent. Kowalski turned to face her, for a moment he was tempted to ask her wether she felt she would be able to squeeze her squat frame into one of those tight tubes, but then thought better of it. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to assist, you having demo experience & all", said the MXO, "one thing though Agent, O'Hara has authority up there, he's the point of presence understand?", he added. (Reply Smith) "This is not your usual situation", added Kowalski, "there's more to this explosive than meets the eye, it's embedded deep", said Kowalski, "we can only see the outermost point of it, damn well looks like the thing crawled in there under it's own steam it's so entrenched", he added. NRPG: Note to Michael, open to possibilities here.... RPG: (Reply Smith) "Just don't do anything immensely stupid whilst your in there, either of you", said Kowalski, "you have your orders soldier", he added addressing the Corporal now. "Yes sir, just need to get a kit together, SIR", said O'Hara as the MXO left the room to attend to the other matter in his mind, that of reporting recent events to Lieutenant Colonel Krige, if he was fully himself now that is! (Reply Smith, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Turbolift - Zulu Alpha CO - Commander Marco Ryan - 19:46) Ryan gave the short guard who pushed him into the turbolift a sideways glance. "Quiet down, phaser rifle grunt. The generic security guard. Less trained than a Marine. You are infinitely replaceable," Ryan quipped. (reply Yates, Vasilyovna) Ryan ignored them while the turbolift hummed to light and they began their decent. "You want to know something, Yelena. I was like you once. A mistreated, undervalued officer. Thats when I was picked to join Admiral Doenitz and his elite forces. You should really consider it. A fine intelligent officer like yourself. A covert ship like the Spectre shouldn't of stood a chance against my ship, I'd mark it up to your abilities at the TAC station," he explained. (reply Vasilyovna) "Oh please. You know, from my point of view, I think the same thing about LoDona. Its all point of view. The ends justify the means, Lieutenant. The Federation will one day span every quadrant in the galaxy under my-... our President. Your little 52nd pep squad is merely a road block," Ryan jabbed. (reply Vasilyovna, iyw) "Remember, Yelena, you can't stop destiny, only slow it down," Ryan said with a charismatic wink while the turbolift came to a stop. (reply Vasilyovna, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Turbolift - TAC/SC Yelena Vasilyovna - 19:47) "Quiet down, phaser rifle grunt. The generic security guard. Less trained than a Marine. You are infinitely replaceable", said Ryan in response to the apparent assault from Yates. Yates gritted his teeth & clenched his fists at the retort, for a moment he considered wether it would be worth the reprimand to pound the arrogant oaf into the floor, but then after reconsidering he relaxed his tensed fists & simply turned to look at the Chief who appeared to know exactly where he was coming from as the Turbolift began it's decent through the Spectre's decks. It wasn't long though before Ryan was busy chipping away once again. "You want to know something, Yelena. I was like you once. A mistreated, undervalued officer. Thats when I was picked to join Admiral Doenitz and his elite forces", said Ryan. "You should really consider it. A fine intelligent officer like yourself. A covert ship like the Spectre shouldn't of stood a chance against my ship, I'd mark it up to your abilities at the TAC station", he added with that self same smug look he seemed to perpetually wear. Vasilyovna simply turned & then stared him straight in the face. "Ok, let's take that rubbish one step at a time shall we", said Yelena. "To begin with, No I don't want to know something, secondly I am NOTHING at all like you so don't insult me by even articulating the sentiment, thirdly, I would never EVER consider aligning myself with a murdering, lying, cheating dictatorial ass like Doenitz so please, don't even go there", she added. "Oh please. You know, from my point of view, I think the same thing about LoDona. Its all point of view. The ends justify the means, Lieutenant. The Federation will one day span every quadrant in the galaxy under my-... our President. Your little 52nd pep squad is merely a road block", said Ryan gloatingly. "Hopefully not in my lifetime", said Vasilyovna just as Yates again turned towards her to whisper something into her ear. "Leave me in here with him for just one minute sir, please, it's worth the damned reprimand just to b....", said Yates as Vasilyovna cut him off in an instance with the raising of a hand. "Remember, Yelena, you can't stop destiny, only slow it down", said Ryan just as the Turbolift came to a halt & out they stepped. "Destiny is not set Mr Ryan", said Vasilyovna, "so I would say that we are still in with a chance of coming out on top.....wouldn't you", she added as Ryan was propelled down the corridor towards his new, but temporary home" (Reply Ryan, Any, IYW) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Hood - A Turbolift - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:47) Jynea stood and stared at the decks flipping by, "Wait, did you say our new C.O was a Vulcan-Betazoid?" (Reply Serixs) "Well double poop." Jynea muttered. Hopefully the extended abilities of the Betazoid would help *block* the unfortunate vibrations she seemed to produce rather than make it worse. "Hey!" she looked up at him suspiciously, "How did YOU get information about the Spectre?! All I keep getting is classified this and classified that!" (Reply Serixs) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - A Turbolift - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 19:48) "Wait, did you say our new C.O was a Vulcan-Betazoid?" Jynea asked him, looking rather wet. He felt a twinge of guilt for getting her into this and would have to make it up to her at another time. "Indeed." He hissed, "It is difficult to see the Betazoid lineage, though. I would seem the Vulcan traits are more dominate. I have not had chance to determine his telepathic abilities," he said the finally with a little bit of disdain. Telepathy, in fact, all psionics were considered fidgity and not truly worth persuing. He suspected, though, that like most things this would be proven otherwise to him quite soon. "Well double poop." Jynea muttered. Hopefully the extended abilities of the Betazoid would help *block* the unfortunate vibrations she seemed to produce rather than make it worse. "Hey!" she looked up at him suspiciously, "How did YOU get information about the Spectre?! All I keep getting is classified this and classified that!" "Double-poop?" He asked her, having not heard that particular expression before. He tilted his head to the side and looked more than a little confused, but he shook that off when she asked her question. "I had opportunity to speak with Captain T'Vhor briefly earlier." He said, smiling to her. "Unfortunately, I am not allowed to discuss that meeting. I apologize for that." The Turbolift finally came to a stop and he led her to his own quarters now. She was kind enough to be involved in this little affair, the least he could do is provide her with a dry uniform to replace the one that was currently soaked. "Please, come in." He said to her as he opened the doorway to his own quarters. They were much like hers, he would gather, but the internal temperature was much warmer and more humid, as well as a slightly heavier gravity. Set in a cage against one wall was a pair of creatures that looked like large balls of fur...Tribbles. Judging by the look of them, though, they were not being kept as pets. (reply Krueng) He nodded and moved to the replicator, calling up a uniform and then looked at the counsellor once more. "What is your size?" He asked. (reply Kreung) He nodded and keyed in the sequence, thankful that he did not have to ask nicely just to get a uniform, then when it appeared, he handed it to the counsellor and motioned to the washroom where she could change in privacy and find towels with which to dry herself. (reply Kreung) While she was in there getting changed, Serixs went through his belongings and found the large bottle of blue liquid. Gorn Miridor. He grinned. This was stuff you find on no Federation vessel since the Gorn rarely exported it. This particular blend had a very low alcohol content, since his own tolerance to the stuff was minimal at best. He looked at the Counsellor emerged from the washroom and nodded his head. "Let us proceed to the lounge where we can sit and enjoy this," he said, tapping the glass bottle. (reply Kreung) He chuckled. "We just might, but even if we do clear the room, it would show they lack conviction to enjoy the company of two very non-humans." He smirked and motioned for the door. "After you, Counsellor." (reply Kreung) (posted by Don Jones) (GDV Sssharussa - Bridge - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 19:48) Captain Zernix came walking out of her Ready Room the moment she received the communication from Fleet Command. Her orders were to proceed at once to the repair facility at GhDar 2 for refit and overhaul of her vessel. While that was occurring, she was ordered to transport to the Fleet Admiral's office to brief him on what had occurred out here. She did not like leaving the Spectre out in the cold like this, still undergoing repairs, but she had her orders and those had to be followed. She looked at her crew assembled on the bridge. Each of them at their stations and she wondered what they thought about this mission. There were so many of them, some younger than her and some older. So many different perspectives. True, being a captain meant that she had to give the illusion that she was omnipresent. She had to make them believe she knew exactly what she was doing at any given moment. Truth be told, though, she was in the dark as often as they were. Perhaps when she gives her brief to the Admiral, she would get a new light shed on this whole thing. Krusse stood from the command chair, as he had many times before. She did not sit, though. Instead, she walked towards the viewscreen and gazed at the Spectre. She wondered what mysteries the Federation vessel held and what was so damned important to protect. She knew it was worth the loss. She had been assured by the Security Lieutenant that came to collect the Zulu Alpha's CO, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her. She shook her head and threw the thoughts from her mind before turning her head to look at her communications officer. "Hail the Spectre," she commanded. After a brief pause, the image of Captain T'Vhor appeared on the screen. "Captain T'Vhor," She said to the hybrid CO, "We are under orders to return to Gorn Space at once." (reply T'Vhor) "I know, Captain, however I do not feel comfortable leaving you or your crew out here." She considered her words carefully, thinking of all that had happened the past several hours. "You and I are allies, Captain," she said. "We have fought and bled together. That means much to my people. To leave you at this point, puts you at risk." (reply T'Vhor) Inwardly, Zernix grumbled at the Captain's words. Hybrid, though he may be, he was every bit the consummate Vulcan. She could find no fault with his logic. In quiet surrender, she nodded her head. "Then we shall get underway. We will keep communications to your vessel open, should you require any further assistance." When all further preparations were finished, she looked at the captain once again and lifted her right hand. Her fingers forming the familiar Vulcan gesture, much easier since her subspecies had four fingers and an opposable thumb. "Peace and long life to you, Captain T'Vhor." She said, holding the gesture. (reply T'Vhor) She waited for the Captain to return the gesture, then nodded to her communications officer to close the channel. Once it was closed, she moved to her command chair. "Helm, Set a course for Ghdar 2," she commanded. "Course set and ready, Captain," the helm responded. "Bring us about and engage at Warp 8," she hissed. The vessel lurched as the helmsman repeated back her command. It took only a few moments for the ship to jump to full speed. "ETA?" the Captain asked. "At present speed," The helm responded, "Eight hours and thirty minutes." She nodded in response, then stood again. "Sub-Captain Krusse to my ready room," She hissed, moving towards the doorway off the side of the bridge. Her First Officer followed behind. She was intent to allow the crew liberty when they arrived to settle in for repair. It had been more than a year since any member of her crew had taken leave and with the past several hours, she felt that it was well deserved. All that needed to be done was discuss those plans with her First Officer. NRPG: More to come. (reply Any) (posted by Don Jones) (USS Spectre - Armoury - Agent Smith - 19:49) "I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to assist, you having demo experience & all... one thing though Agent, O'Hara has authority up there, he's the point of presence understand?", Jo looked at Kowalski for a moment and then nodded. "Yes Major." ~It's his part after all~ Jo listened intensely as Kowalski continued. "This is not your usual situation, "there's more to this explosive than meets the eye, it's embedded deep" "we can only see the outermost point of it, damn well looks like the thing crawled in there under it's own steam it's so entrenched", he added. Jo frowned. "That's peculiar. Definatly don't want to rush it." She said partly to herself. "Just don't do anything immensely stupid whilst your in there, either of you", "you have your orders soldier", Jo smiled mentally as she watched O'Hara practically jump to attention. "Yes sir, just need to get a kit together, SIR", As she & Kowalski left the room. She turned to O'Hara. "Hope you don't mind me tagging along?" (reply O'Hara) "So what's you plan of action going to be?" (reply O'Hara) (reply O'Hara, any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Hood - A Turbolift - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:49) "I had opportunity to speak with Captain T'Vhor briefly earlier." He said, smiling to her. "Unfortunately, I am not allowed to discuss that meeting. I apologize for that." "Of course not," Jynea muttered ironically, "Why let a simple counsellor know anything." Before Serixs could misinterpret her grumpiness, "I'm rallying against the evil Fate known as bureaucracy, not any particular individual." she explained. (Reply Serixs if any) The Turbolift finally came to a stop and he led her to his own quarters now. She was kind enough to be involved in this little affair, the least he could do is provide her with a dry uniform to replace the one that was currently soaked. (Reply Serixs) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - Serixs' Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:50) "Please, come in." He said to her as he opened the doorway to his own quarters. They were much like hers, he would gather, but the internal temperature was much warmer and more humid, as well as a slightly heavier gravity. Set in a cage against one wall was a pair of creatures that looked like large balls of fur...Tribbles. Judging by the look of them, though, they were not being kept as pets. "Oh, nice." Jynea took a deep breath in, she could swear she could smell deep jungle in the air, the warmth reassured her joints and relaxed her muscles. Orions were a swamp loving people who tended to live low and dry to save on resources. Jynea didn't particularly *care* what her environmentals were set at, but she wasn't going to protest when she found wet and warm either. He nodded and moved to the replicator, calling up a uniform and then looked at the counsellor once more. "What is your size?" He asked. "22, short torso." Jynea told him, petting the would be food through the bars. SHE wouldn't be eating them, she could humanize them if she wanted. Fortunately, the creatures didn't seem to have teeth to bite her with. Musn't be from the Gorn homeworld, what she'd heard EVERYTHING there had teeth. He nodded and keyed in the sequence, thankful that he did not have to ask nicely just to get a uniform, then when it appeared, he handed it to the counsellor and motioned to the washroom where she could change in privacy and find towels with which to dry herself. Not much caring about modesty, Jynea went into the washroom anyway. She didn't think Serixs would give a tail twitch over a mammalian body, and SHE certainly didn't have the human obsession with 'cover up the details', but she could wash her hair. She had a sneaking suspicson the river was salt water to help buoyancy. The petty officer hadn't struck her as an accuracy addict. A sonic shake and a quick blow dry and she finger combed her hair back into a semblance of normalcy. For some STRANGE reason Serixs didn't have a comb for her to borrow and she didn't keep one in her pocket for emergency use. She stuffed the now somewhat damp uniform into the refresher and headed back out into the quarters. Serixs had found the bottle of whatever and was standing proud like a DeaMet of Corokth day. "Let us proceed to the lounge where we can sit and enjoy this," he said, tapping the glass bottle. "Assuming we don't clear the room and Petty Officer Tricksy doesn't show up, should be fun." He chuckled. "We just might, but even if we do clear the room, it would show they lack conviction to enjoy the company of two very non-humans." He smirked and motioned for the door. "After you, Counsellor." Jynea shrugged and headed out. "I've found most humans friendly enough. Of course, I'm short and cute, YOU look like you're going to bite off their head and play basketball with it if you get bored." she teased. (reply Serixs) (posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 19:51) "Captain on the bridge", said Nolly's as the science officer stood to relinquish command back to the man himself as he emerged from the Turbolift prior to his impromptu meeting with the President. "Report", said the Captain in typical, Vulcan monotone. "The Hood has reported as on station & awaiting further orders sir, emergency damage control reports acceptable operational status concurrent with warp speed", said Nolly's as she returned towards her console. "Major Kowalski reports that a device has been discovered in Jeffery's tube forty one D, ordinance is with them now sir", she added as she retook her seat whilst the Captain did likewise, activating a console function as he did so. "Engineering report", said the Captain. (Reply Bourne, Bristed, Any) "How soon Ensign, I need not remind you that we need warp power as soon as possible", said the Captain. (Reply Bourne, Bristed, Any) "Understood, inform me the moment the core is back online", said the Captain just as the communications officer reported an incoming communication from the Gorn vessel. "On screen Lieutenant", said the Captain & the familiar face of the Gorn Captain appeared upon their viewscreen. =/\=Captain T'Vhor, we are under orders to return to Gorn Space at once=/\=, said Zernix. "Understood Captain, you must not stay here any longer than you need to, this area of space is not the safest place for either of us to be right now", said T'Vhor. =/\=I know, Captain, however I do not feel comfortable leaving you or your crew out here.......You and I are allies, Captain=/\=, said the Gorn, =/\=We have fought and bled together. That means much to my people. To leave you at this point, puts you at risk=/\= "I am aware of this Captain Zernix, however, it would be illogical for you to remain here now whilst your ship is capable of returning to a point of safety", said the Captain, "the Spectre will be warp capable very soon, there is no logic in your remaining here in danger now", he added. The Gorn Captain appeared to be considering his words now in her silence, then once she had considered enough she spoke again. =/\=Then we shall get underway. We will keep communications to your vessel open, should you require any further assistance=/\=, said Zernix before forming her hand into the familiar Vulcan salute. =/\=Peace and long life to you, Captain T'Vhor=/\= "Live long & prosper Captain Zernix", said the Captain as he in turn raised his hand likewise towards the Gorn Captain. The screen then cut to the starfield vista showing the Ssharussa turning about & then initiating warp to take her out of the system. (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 19:52) For a first day, things had been exceptionally exciting for Jacqueline. First the bomb threat, then all hell breaking loose via a firefight in Engineering, and she had yet to unpack her things. And there was the small matter of making it possible for the ship to get out of here by getting the warp core back online. She'd certainly have something to write home about, if she were the type to actually write home. ~Maybe a letter to Vashan. Probably make the elf smile. Or freak out, maybe.~ =^=Engineering report=^= came the voice of the captain. "Bristed here. We're working on getting the warp core back up. It's kinda--" she stopped herself from using a less than professional term just in time. It was better if she didn't speak as though she were still on her father's old ship. Or at least to make sure she didn't use curses that T'Vhor could understand, unlike the one she had nearly blurted out. =^=How soon Ensign, I need not remind you that we need warp power as soon as possible.=^= No, a reminder was probably the last thing she needed. Jacqueline tried to calculate how long it would take to repair the damages, but she couldn't come up with an exact number. She decided not to try giving a set amount of time and shoot for "ASAP." "We're working as quickly as we can, sir. With luck, maybe an hour, two at the most." She hoped she had picked a realistic time frame. Or better yet, allotted too much time so that early completion looked like an exceptional job. She'd used that trick once or twice, back before joining 'Fleet...only then she'd known exactly how long the job was going to take. =^=Understood, inform me the moment the core is back online.=^= Jacqueline got back to work. It seemed a magnetic constriction segment had been damaged, and an adjustment coil was on the fritz...cancel that, someone else had started working on the adjustment coil. "To the constriction segment!" she said, striking a "heroic pose" for a second before proceeding with the job. She heard someone giggle, and saw someone else give her a strange look for her antics. She didn't care; after everything that had happened laughing was probably the only way to keep from having some kind of panic attack. She was definitely on the verge of one herself. (Reply Any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Outside Armoury - Corporal Lewis O'Hara - 19:53) Corporal O'Hara had relaxed just a little the moment he had exited the armoury & had entered the corridor, his nerves were more than just a little frayed these days but then, it went with the territory of course. UXB tech's tended to have a short lifespan in the corp & O'Hara was probably running on borrowed time but Kowalski, like most command Marine officers had a definite & irritable tendency to overstate the obvious & drive the facts home with a sledgehammer, when a pin hammer would have probably sufficed quite well. "Hope you don't mind me tagging along?", said Smith as she caught him up. "Not at all", said O'Hara, "I'm glad of the company actually", he added as he stretched his neck muscles this way & that to ease a little more of the tension from his already overstressed body. "So what's your plan of action going to be?", asked the diminutive female agent. "Disarm the.....whatever the hell it is", said O'Hara with a laugh, "I mean it's a bomb yes, & yet the MXO seems to think this ain't your usual type of bomb", he added. "Go figure" (Reply Smith) "We'll know more when we get there, I have everything I need to tackle everything I've ever encountered right here in this pack", said O'Hara reaching down to pat the side of his shoulder case reassuringly as he did so. (Reply Smith) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Sickbay- Nurse Douwsy - 19:55) Douwsy hurried around the mad house that was sickbay. If they got any more patients then they would have to convert a shuttle bay or some thing. She stopped as she heard the monotone whine at one of the bio-beds. She turned to see O'Harper standing by the patient. ~Ow hell~ She crossed over quickly and saw that the patient was the bajoran that they had pulled from the shuttle with Lieutenant Rogers. "I'm sorry Dr O'Harper. He was in a bad way." "What ever." "Yes I know but he was still your patient." "He's dead. So what." Douwsy was slightly put aback by what he had said. She knew grief affected people in different ways she had experienced most of them. it was just the total detachment that O'Harper had with the patient was worrying. "Look I'll take care of him. The lady on the bio-bed over by the door needs her arm fixed." She saw him nod and then move away. ~I need to keep a close eye on him~ (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 19:55) They did get a few strange looks as they came in, but fortunately most of the people in the lounge seemed more interested in their late dinner than two guests, no matter how green. Jynea snagged a table by the view windows just as a pair of red shirts were leaving it. The Hood seemed to have an awful lot of command or pilot personnel on board. She'd also snagged a small plate of cookies from the replicator to go with her salad and .. the Gorn beverage. Hopefully she wouldn't embarrass herself like she did with the Human "English Ale". "Starfleet is a funny place." Jynea observed as Serixs turned the chair around so he could sit without tail interference. "I spent a good chunk of my first year of the academy soaking wet as my senior student was Aquadrian. Her quarters were flooded at the best of times, sometimes, for meetings she'd lower the water amount so we could sit out of it, but for the most part she considered it part of our training to get used to different environments." Jynea snagged a shortbread cookie, "Personally, I always thought it was grumpiness at being dry and having to walk all day." (Reply Serixs) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign(JG)Serixs Ssarumon - 19:56) Serixs had noticed the strange looks when they arrived in the crew lounge, but paid them no heed. He was used to it by now. Initially, they had caused him some discomfort, but he also noticed at the academy, as others became used to him, the looks became less and less. He followed Jynea to the table she had chosen and turned the chair so he could sit without his tail getting bunched up. One thing about these Federations interior designers, they never took tailed species into consideration and his was large enough that he could not just shove it to the side. While Jynea was getting herself a plate of cookies, Serixs poured two glasses of Miridor for them. The liquid was deep blue, looking almost like Romulan Ale, but had a far different flavor. It was sweet with just the hint of bitterness and light citrus flavor to it from being brewed with Gorn tropical fruits. "Starfleet is a funny place," he heard Jynea say to him. It was a sentiment that he could easily agree with. "I spent a good chunk of my first year of the academy soaking wet as my senior student was Aquadrian. Her quarters were flooded at the best of times, sometimes, for meetings she'd lower the water amount so we could sit out of it, but for the most part she considered it part of our training to get used to different environments." Jynea snagged a shortbread cookie, "Personally, I always thought it was grumpiness at being dry and having to walk all day." Serixs chuckled at the anecdote, remembering his own experiences. "My senior student was an Andorian. He had this love for very cold climates," he said, taking a drink of the Miridor. "During our meetings he would lower the temperature to roughly twenty degrees Celsius. I was sitting there shivering while everyone else felt just fine." He shook his head. "Same reason I would suppose. He wished for us to get used to it, but I think he just got some absurd pleasure out of torturing a native of a hot environment," he grinned and passed her a glass of the blue liquid before giving an explanation, "This brew of Miridor has a very low alcohol content," he said, taking another drink from his glass. "The strong brew would have me passed out cold after the first glass." (reply Kreung) He considered a moment and nodded his head. "I do believe a salad would do well enough for me." He smiled at the counsellor. "We may be strict carnivores, but we have learned that, on occasion, plant fibers aid in digestion and I am due to eat a meal tomorrow." (reply Kreung) Serixs chuckles softly. "Do not worry," he said, "My people have laws against consuming the flesh of sentients." He then excused himself to go and retrieve a salad. While in his quarters he snagged what had looked like a little metal cylinder, the garnish for his salad. He retrieved the plate full of vegetables from the replicator and turned to head back when he noticed that the Counsellor had company. The man standing behind her looking positively enraged was wearing rafting gear and looked more than just a little disheveled. It would seem Petty Officer Thomas had tracked them down. "You must think you're real smart." he heard Thomas say to the counsellor. (reply Kreung) Serixs raised the ridge of his eye a moment and stepped over to the table once more. "Is there a problem here, Petty Officer?" He said, finally getting the human's attention, who went white as a sheet and just looked upwards at the much larger Gorn wearing Science teal. "I...I...I..." the human was stammering. Apparently he had no idea that one of the two involved in altering his program was a big green lizard with sharp teeth. (reply Kreung) Serixs placed his salad on the table along with the small silver cylinder, then turned his attention back to the petty officer. "It would appear to me that you had a little accident, Petty Officer," he said to the human. "It was not the Counsellor here who fixed your program, it was I." He got in close, baring all of his teeth. "Maybe next time you should reconsider before you alter someone's replicator." He looked at the counsellor once again, another idea forming. "Permission to remove his face, Counsellor?" He asked her, letting the human think she was the one in charge and that the Gorn would snap him in half on command. Who better than a Counsellor to make someone realize their errors and he was happy to provide her with another tool to do just that. He did not know a human could turn more ashen, but this particular one was indeed looking all the more white from it. (reply Kreung) Serixs chuckled deeply in his chest and poked the Human with one of his clawed digits. "You were lucky this time." He said, then sat down at the table once more, still looking at the human. NRPG: Over to you, Lorna. Time to make this guy feel about an inch tall. ;D (reply Kreung) (posted by Don Jones) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 19:57) According to the diagnostics, this magnetic constriction segment had been damaged and wasn't regulating proper energy flow. However, it seemed that the thing was in perfect working order when Jacqueline tried to fix it. Absolutely nothing wrong, no matter how hard she looked. So what was the problem? Either the system was wrong or she was overlooking the problem. At this point, both options seemed equally likely. She tried running her tricorder over the offending piece of equipment again, but once again, nothing turned up, although it insisted that there was some kind of malfunction. She sighed in disgust, wondering if perhaps the job called for a dynoscanner, or, if the system refused to believe nothing was wrong, a complete replacement of the segment. ~First we'll try giving it a professional touch.~ She hit the constriction segment with the heel of her palm. And again. And a third time. She stopped at this point, mostly because her hand was hurting rather badly by this point. Now to see if anything had changed... This time, the tricorder reported absolutely nothing wrong with the magnetic constriction segment. Sometimes it took a bit of superstitious nonsense to get the job done. (Reply Any, none) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D - Corporal Lewis O'Hara - 19:58) The climb up to the last juncture of forty one D had instilled a sense of relief in the Marine Demo expert as he crouched down briefly just away from the top of the ladder. Smith was not far behind him, Lewis could hear the footfalls of her boots as they struck the metal rungs one by one until she spilled out of the hatch in front of him. "Feeling flush Agent Smith?", asked O'Hara with a wink. (Reply Smith) O'Hara unclipped his tricorder from his belt & then he adjusted it for a widebeam dispersal pattern in order to scan ahead of them. It was merely a precautionary measure of course, a check for trip devices & such that may have been set in the path of anyone attempting to ruin the saboteurs plans. Kowalski & Palmer had already been this route anyway so the likelihood of anything being found were minimal, but it was better to be safe than sorry. "Tricorders picking up nothing untoward", said O'Hara, "no trips, no heat or vibration sensors....nothing", he added. (Reply Smith) "Either our fly in the ointment is very stupid or he feels that there is no need to go to such lengths as hindering our progress", said O'Hara, "lets hope he's just stupid, if he's not then that means he's probably confident enough that we won't be able to disarm his little surprise", said O'Hara. (Reply Smith) The two moved on anyway, it wasn't much further if the MXO's report was anything to go by, just up around the right handed bend just ahead & then about forty feet in front of them. It took them about three minutes before they had met up with Palmer, he appeared to be just taking it easy but then again, what else was there for him to do given the situation. Lewis acknowledged him with a nod & then settled down beside him before running his Tricorder up to speed again & narrowing it's scanning beam in order to obtain pinpoint accuracy to well beyond the fifteen inch tube that the bomb had apparently 'crawled' itself into.... O'Hara shook his head as the tricorder pinged away actively, his brow furrowed up in confusion & then he looked to Agent Smith a Palmer, a look of disbelief in his eyes. "This doesn't make sense at all", said O'Hara, "I'm reading organic material", he added. (Reply Smith) "About three meters beyond this bulkhead, it's sitting directly against the coolant transfer ducts", said O'Hara, "I'm reading Quantum filaments....some kind of optical detonator &.......", he added suddenly trailing off. (Reply Smith) "Your kidding me right?", said Palmer looking from Smith to O'Hara respectively. ".......A disruptor type weapon nearby", said O'Hara, "we don't have any disruptor weapons onboard the Spectre, how can that be?", he added. "Jeezus!", cried O'Hara suddenly startled by the readings he was getting on his Tricorder, "it's moving, the damn things moving!", he added. (Reply Smith) "I think we should inform the Captain", said Palmer, "I mean this ain't right, how come it moved?", he added looking to both Smith & O'Hara now in the hopes that one of them might have some kind of an acceptable answer for him. (Reply Smith) "No, I don't want to go poking this thing around until I know what I'm dealing with", said O'Hara as he unpacked his equipment bag & began attaching sensors to the bulkhead. "If it detonates we'll have maybe a microsecond to wish each other a fond farewell, then we'll be atoms", he added. Palmer simply fell back against the support bar against the wall of the Jeffery's tube at O'Hara's words, his eyes closing as he did so. "Oh that's just great, did you have to say that damned word.....detonate?", said Palmer, "I mean any other word would have been fine, I thought you were just gonna come up here & defuse the damned thing, now you say it's practically alive", he added. "I didn't say that", said O'Hara, "I said it was moving, I never said it was alive, for all I know it could be remotely operated, someone could be pulling it's strings so to speak", he added looking to Smith now for reassurance of some sort. (Reply Smith, IYW) "It ain't conventional that's for sure, the Tricorders only giving me a rough idea on it, have Engineering bring me up a visual discriminator, that way I can get a clearer look at what it is where dealing with", said O'Hara. Palmer was on it immediately of course & wasting no time at all in tapping at his combadge to open a channel. "Palmer to Engineering, anyone there care to pick up?", said the Corporal. (Reply Any in Engineering) "The Demo wants a visual discriminator, wants it brought up right away", said Palmer. (Reply Any in Engineering) "I dunno, nothing here is making sense right now, demo says this ain't like anything he's seen before", said Palmer as he wiped at his brow to remove the thin sheen of sweat now breaking out upon it. (Reply Any in Engineering) "We are in Jeffery's tube forty one D at junction....", said Palmer turning his head to look upwards at the identification plate nearby, "....sixteen alpha", he added, "I'd say beam it to our location but I'm not sure that's a good idea, I mean this thing ain't acting right, for all we know a transport beam might even set it off", said Palmer. (Reply Any in Engineering) "Understood, Palmer out", said the bemused looking Corporal as he returned his attention to his somewhat confused compatriots. NRPG: More to come. (Reply Smith, Any in Engineering, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - First Officer - Lt. Brian Rogers - 19:59) Brian sat up in his biobed and stood up, despite the pain in his lungs. His uniform was dirty, but he didn't have time to change. He was needed on the bridge. He headed to the door when he was cut off by the nurse. (reply Douwsy) "I'm sorry, Nurse. I'm needed on the bridge. At the end of my shift I'll come back down so the doctor can have a look at me," Rogers explained. (reply Douwsy) Despite her comment, Rogers nodded and headed to the door, and out into the turbolift. (Reply Douwsy) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 20:00) Serixs chuckled at the anecdote, remembering his own experiences. "My senior student was an Andorian. He had this love for very cold climates," he said, taking a drink of the Miridor. "During our meetings he would lower the temperature to roughly twenty degrees Celsius. I was sitting there shivering while everyone else felt just fine." He shook his head. "Same reason I would suppose. He wished for us to get used to it, but I think he just got some absurd pleasure out of torturing a native of a hot environment," he grinned and passed her a glass of the blue liquid before giving an explanation, "This brew of Miridor has a very low alcohol content," he said, taking another drink from his glass. "The strong brew would have me passed out cold after the first glass." "Oh good, I hate being the only lush in an area. Seems most humanoids think intoxicating themselves and acting like idiots is the end all, be all of life experiences." Jynea tried the Miridor, she wasn't quite sure what to think of it, "Tho I suppose as a member of the medical community I should advise you eat as well as drink." He considered a moment and nodded his head. "I do believe a salad would do well enough for me." He smiled at the counsellor. "We may be strict carnivores, but we have learned that, on occasion, plant fibers aid in digestion and I am due to eat a meal tomorrow." "Oh, well, I'm the opposite, strict vegetarian tho I will occassionally have a synthetic meat something-or-other. Can't say I much like the idea of eating a non-sentient, near-sentient or even sentient." Jynae gave an involuntary shudder at the idea. Not to mention all the ookey things that "real" food, especially once an animal food. But, it would hardly be diplomatic to say so to a ninety-nine percent carnivore who she didn't really know. Serixs chuckled softly. "Do not worry," he said, "My people have laws against consuming the flesh of sentients." He then excused himself to go and retrieve a salad. "You must think you're real smart!!" A voice growled out of the blue. Jynea didn't *quite* jump a mile as she turned to look over her shoulder, she considered several replies, but she couldn't think of something that didn't sound snotty or superioristic. "I'm sorry Petty Officer, do you have a problem?" she finally asked. Before the victim of the retalitory joke could splutter, Serixs caught his attention and Thomas Ryan went white as a sheet. She didn't think the human could have gotten paler, but apparently she was wrong. Serixs raised the ridge of his eye a moment and stepped over to the table once more. "Is there a problem here, Petty Officer?" He had asked. "I...I...I..." the human was stammering. Apparently he had no idea that one of the two involved in altering his program was a big green lizard with sharp teeth. "Petty Officer Ryan, Ensign Ssarumon." She was wondering how to defuse the situation before it got worse. Serixs placed his salad on the table along with the small silver cylinder, then turned his attention back to the petty officer. "It would appear to me that you had a little accident, Petty Officer," he said to the human. "It was not the Counsellor here who fixed your program, it was I." He got in close, baring all of his teeth. "Maybe next time you should reconsider before you alter someone's replicator." He looked at the counsellor once again, another idea forming. "Permission to remove his face, Counsellor?" "Absolutely not." Jynea snapped, "Enough is enough." She said standing up. "You had your little joke Petty Officer, and you got it turned on you. Just be glad we didn't choose to file a report to your superior or the Chief of the Boat. Channel some of your energy into your job and maybe you'll advance yourself rather than feeling it necessary to bring others down to your level." Thomas Ryan's eyes flitted from aggressive Gorn to irritated Orion and back, not quite sure who was the bigger threat. "If you wish to continue your career in Starfleet, I suggest you start employing some professionalism and maturity. I am going to suggest a meeting with a senior counsellor, you can choose to explain why, or not, as you see fit." He stared at her. "You're dismissed, Petty Officer Ryan." She said. The engineering tech backed up and didn't quite flee. Jynea sat back down at the table and rubbed her temples. "I feel sick. I don't like confrontation, I don't like being all military. But I don't like petty bullies either." (Reply Serixs) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Nurse Douwsy - 20:00) Douwsy saw Rogers get up from his bio-bed. ~Wonder where he is going~ As she watched he made a bee line to exit sickbay. ~I don't think so~ "Lieutenant Rogers. Would you mind telling me where you think you are going?" "I'm sorry, Nurse. I'm needed on the bridge. At the end of my shift I'll come back down so the doctor can have a look at me" Douwsy paused for a moment. She understood the need to be working and not cooped up in sickbay. "I'll inform the Doctor. If you feel any worse. Come straight back." She watched as he left sickbay and then turned back to her other patients. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D - Agent Smith - 20:00) "Feeling flush Agent Smith?". Jo looked at the Marine as she climbed up the ladder behind him. ~cheeky little gi..~ "Watch it marine. Jefferies tubes are dangerous places. People can have nasty accidents and die." She followed him. "Tricorders picking up nothing untoward", said O'Hara. "no trips, no heat or vibration sensors....nothing", "Might be a good sign or not." "Either our fly in the ointment is very stupid or he feels that there is no need to go to such lengths as hindering our progress". "lets hope he's just stupid, if he's not then that means he's probably confident enough that we won't be able to disarm his little surprise" "Well if its any consolation. If your wrong we won't live long enough to know about it." She followed him through the tubes until they came across another person guarding the location. "This doesn't make sense at all". "I'm reading organic material". Jo looked at O'Hara. "Really? where?" ~This sounds interesting~ "About three meters beyond this bulkhead, it's sitting directly against the coolant transfer ducts". "I'm reading Quantum filaments....some kind of optical detonator &.......". "Not good." "Your kidding me right?" ".......A disruptor type weapon nearby", said O'Hara, "we don't have any disruptor weapons onboard the Spectre, how can that be?", he added. "Jeezus!" "it's moving, the damn things moving!" "Well that's not something ordinary explosives do?" "I think we should inform the Captain", said Palmer, "I mean this ain't right, how come it moved?" Jo took out her tricorder and scanned the device. She then thought for a moment before answering. "It looks like a Smart Bomb. Might be self aware. either way its going to be nasty. " "No, I don't want to go poking this thing around until I know what I'm dealing with". "If it detonates we'll have maybe a microsecond to wish each other a fond farewell, then we'll be atoms" "Oh that's just great, did you have to say that damned word.....detonate?", said Palmer, "I mean any other word would have been fine, I thought you were just gonna come up here & defuse the damned thing, now you say it's practically alive", he added. Jo smiled to herself. If there was one thing she had learnt from her time on the demo team was that worrying about detonation just made things far worse. This did not mean that she wanted to die but she new that when her time came she would be ready. "I didn't say that", said O'Hara, "I said it was moving, I never said it was alive, for all I know it could be remotely operated, someone could be pulling it's strings so to speak", "It could be but we don't know until we see it." She turned to Palmer. "Where's your sense of adventure!" "It ain't conventional that's for sure, the Tricorders only giving me a rough idea on it, have Engineering bring me up a visual discriminator, that way I can get a clearer look at what it is where dealing with". "Palmer to Engineering, anyone there care to pick up?". Jo looked at her tricorder readings as O'Hara began issuing his orders. This was his party and she would not butt in. ~Well we are having a good day to day~ (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre – Engineering – Ensign Bourne - 20:01) Robin wiped the sweat and muck away that now had attached and stained his uniform. He looked up at the core, imagining what would have happened if they had kept it active during the attack. ~Actually, best not to… leave the things that are unknown where they are…~ =/\=Palmer to Engineering, anyone there care to pick up?=/\= a voice echoed inside the deck. Looking around, he saw that everyone was busy with jobs to be done. After a moment's hesitation, he tapped his combadge in reply. "Ensign Bourne here, go ahead" =/\=The Demo wants a visual discriminator, wants it brought up right away=/\=, said Palmer. ~Yea, and I want to sleep for the next 15 hours… not going to happen soon!~ Robin thought. "Palmer, that's a technical piece of equipment, and its uses are probably not of Engineers priorities at this time. Can I ask for what it's going to be used for?" he enquired, realising that a cold start on the warp core was going to be required in the near future, thus logged into the nearest console. =/\=I dunno, nothing here is making sense right now, demo says this ain't like anything he's seen before=/\=, Palmer replied. As Robin listened to the voice, draining in his own thoughts, he noticed a bulletin posted as critical, titled 'Warhead Lodged In Hull'. With that, he asked... "I take it that this is to do with the warhead in our hull.." He paused in consideration. A warhead inside the hull would mean going to warp would be even more risky. ~If those guys know what their doing…~ "Where are you?" he finally replied in a heavy sigh. =/\=We are in Jeffery's tube forty one D at junction.... sixteen alpha", he added, "I'd say beam it to our location but I'm not sure that's a good idea, I mean this thing ain't acting right, for all we know a transport beam might even set it off=/\=, said Palmer. "True, don't want to cause another set of breeches in the hull" He paused realising what he had just said could be taken in the wrong way, and attempted to carry on as normal. "If he and you really think it's an absolute, then I am on my way." He said. "I'll meet you there." =/\=Understood, Palmer out=/\= He reached over to a spare PADD and accessed it. ~4 1 D 1 6 A~ he typed, watching as the visual display showed him the safest yet fastest route to that location under the current conditions. Reaching for the equipment locker, he grabbed the kit, slipped the PADD into the side pocket, and accessed the nearest Jefferies tube. ~Just like training, apart from a warhead in the hull.. and your crawling towards it.. not much different.. honest..~ (Reply any, none) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Spectre - Main Bridge - First Officer - Lt. Brian Rogers - 20:05) Rogers walked onto the bridge and approached Captain T'Vhor. He saluted. "Sir, Rogers reported for duty," he said. (reply T'Vhor) "Yes, captain," Rogers said. He nodded to his captain and headed to the right seat reserved for the first officer. He sat down and swung the console around. He entered a few commands and began checking the ship's critical systems. (reply T'Vhor, Douwsy, any) (Posted by Kevin Schram) (USS Spectre - Main Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 20:06) "Sir, Rogers reporting for duty,", said the FO as he walked, or rather limped from the turbolift & out onto the bridge in a somewhat disheveled condition. "Have you been cleared fit for duty Lieutenant?", said the Captain noticing his current state & wondering then if he had been. "Yes, captain", said Rogers as he moved to take his seat beside the CO before then checking status levels on running repairs & such. The Captain turned to face the FO directly as the FO worked upon the control pad before him, "you have a few questions to answer Lieutenant", he stated as he himself stood from his chair, indicating as he did so that he wanted those questions answered now & not later. "My ready room please", said the CO ushering the First officer into action. (Reply Rogers, IYW) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 20:06) The counselor’s outburst caught Serixs by just as much surprise as it had the Petty officer. What she said, telling him how she disliked confrontation or being in a military frame of mind had given him pause. What she said next struck a chord. She disliked petty bullies. Whether she was referring to him or the Petty Officer mattered little. The fact that both had behaved poorly was enough. He quietly ate his own salad, using the awkward silence to give deep contemplation to her words and his own place in all of this. As quiet as a church mouse, he topped off her glass of the Miridor while forming his next statement. “You are absolutely correct, Counselor,” Serixs said to the Orion woman then rubbed his own temples now. (reply Kreung) “I am here, in the Federation, because my government has decided that it would be in the best interest of the Gorn Hegemony to have a Gorn officer in Starfleet. I was told that our future depends upon the success of this experiment.” He looked at her, letting his words sink in before he continued. “In the academy, there was nothing but confrontation and military protocol. It is something I was already accustomed to, but out here on a vessel. It no longer works.” He turned his attention out to the window, watching the stars a moment and sipping upon his own glass. “My people are highly aggressive. Some say more so than the Klingons. There is no place in the Federation for such blind aggression.” (reply Kreung) “I am not the first Gorn to try to make it in Starfleet, but all others never made it far due to that aggression.” He finally turned his attention back to the counselor and smiled slightly. “I desperately wish to succeed because I have reason to believe that I will not be the last Gorn to apply.” He turns his body fully towards her. “To that end, Counselor, I need your help.” He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. It’s never easy for the Gorn to ask for help on such a personal matter, but he was willing to do it if it meant he would be able to impart some wisdom to later generations of his people. (reply Kreung) “No no,” Serixs said with a soft chuckle. “No more pranks and no more frightening the rest of the crew.” He smiled a bit. “I need your help coming to grips with all of this…With putting these aggressive instincts to a much more constructive use.” He considered a moment. “Perhaps it would be something you could write a paper or two on as well, assisting a highly aggressive species with transition into Federation life.” He smiled. “It could be worth an attempt.” He looked at her squarely, opening the nictating membranes protecting him from bright light and peering at her with his dark blue vertical slit eyes. “Will you help me?” He asked her, being as sincere as he possibly could be. (reply Kreung) (posted by Don Jones) NRPG: More to come. :) (USS Spectre - Captain's Ready Room - Captain T'Vhor - 20:08) The Captain wasted no time at all in moving towards the table & seating himself behind it, whilst inviting his FO to do likewise opposite him. Once he had done so, the Captain settled back into his chair & looked Rogers straight in the eye, his stoic expression not changing once from the time they had entered the room. "You disobeyed direct orders Lieutenant, I want an answer as to why", said the Captain in a firm but controlled manner. (Reply Rogers) "You were ordered not to engage the Alpha directly, your orders were to distract her & give her another target to fire upon, not engage her", said the Captain, "you also disobeyed a direct order to disengage & in so doing, you lost the Trogan", he added. (Reply Rogers) This latest information did indeed put another angle into the mix entirely. It seemed that despite the appearance of the supposed facts, Rogers had not been party to what had happened at all... "Is the pilot still alive?", said the Captain. (Reply Rogers) "Then he will be up on charges before Lieutenant Colonel Krige", said the Captain, "gung ho stupidity will not be tolerated on board this or any other Federation vessel", said the Captain, "especially if it endangers any of my crew" (Reply Rogers) The Captain relaxed his posture slightly & then slid a nearby PADD towards him. "See to it that the Lieutenant Colonel is appropriately informed of these events.....you are dismissed", said the CO as he began appending a log entry upon the PADD. (Reply Rogers) "Lieutenant", said the Captain just as the FO was about to walk out. (Reply Rogers) "It's good to have you back on the bridge in one piece Mr Rogers", said the Captain. (Reply Rogers) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 20:08) Andrew heard raised voices as he entered sickbay. He was on his way to find the captain but needed to get another PADD. “ARE YOU TOTALLY INCOMPETENT DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND ANYTHING?” Andrew saw O’Harper and Douwsy standing near a patient. O’Harper had gone red with rage he was shaking his fists at Douwsy. ~What the hell~ He quickly moved over to O’Harper. “Dr O’Harper.” O’Harper spun round. “WHAT!” He quickly regained his composure. “Dr O’Harper would you please come into my office.” He then turned and walked to his office. He sat down and waited to O’Harper to join him. “Dr O’Harper what just happened in there?” He asked calmly. There was no reason to yell and shout. “Nurse Douwsy wanted me to prescribe more analgesia. The patient had already had his limit on what's on his chart.” “What was wrong with that request.” “I had other important things to deal with at that moment.” Andrew paused for a moment thinking about how to carry on. “It has come to my attention that you are having problems coping with the death of the pilot.” O’Harper’s face went red again. “What has Douwsy said? What does she know about it she is just a stupid F****ng nurse.” ~That’s enough~ Andrew stared hard at him. “’Sister’ Douwsy is the nurse in charge of this sickbay. She is a highly trained Nurse working in a number of departments such as A&E, Theatre and physic. So Dr O’Harper she does know quite a bit about people and emotions.” He watched as O’Harper calmed down. He rubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t think that I can carry on working on the Spectre. Andrew nodded. “Working in a sickbay is one of the most stressful positions. It does not suit every one.” “It's also the amount of death here. People always seem to die.” ~That is something I really want to change~ “If you want I can contact the captain and see if wer'e near a ship you can transfer to. It can take you back to Geneva?” “No. I want to work out my time until we get back.” “Okay. Do you want to see a counsellor?” O’Harper shook his head. “Not here. Not while I’m on board.” Andrew nodded. “Okay I’ll put you in contact with a friend that I know when we dock.” He paused before he carried on. “Have you done last offices on your patient?” “No I just can not do it.” “Its okay. I’ll do it myself. I want you to sit here until you feel that you are able to go and apologise to Nurse Douwsy and your patient. Then I want you to go to your quarters take it easy for a while.” O’Harper looked up and Andrew rose from his seat and scooped up a second PADD. “But Dr Williams I’m….” Andrew placed a hand on his shoulder. “No. You go and sit down for a bit.” With that he walked out of his office. ~At least he’s not going to die like the others. Better find the Captian before something else happens~ (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 20:10) Jynea was lost in her own cloud of misery and could almost picture the little lightning bolts shooting down into her head. Not even on her assigned ship and she was already mucking things up! “You are absolutely correct, Counselor,” Serixs said to the Orion woman then rubbed his own temples now. "I am?" Jynea said, quite startled. She wasn't normally right about "procedure." Normally she was bass ackwards, as the saying went. “I am here, in the Federation, because my government has decided that it would be in the best interest of the Gorn Hegemony to have a Gorn officer in Starfleet. I was told that our future depends upon the success of this experiment.” He looked at her, letting his words sink in before he continued. “In the academy, there was nothing but confrontation and military protocol. It is something I was already accustomed to, but out here on a vessel. It no longer works.” He turned his attention out to the window, watching the stars a moment and sipping upon his own glass. “My people are highly aggressive. Some say more so than the Klingons. There is no place in the Federation for such blind aggression.” "I think the humans call it 'testosterone poisoning' it's not limited to your race only, Serixs. Like the rest of us you'll just have to learn to think first and growl later." She appreciated the irony since she tended to feel, splurt words THEN think. “I am not the first Gorn to try to make it in Starfleet, but all others never made it far due to that aggression.” He finally turned his attention back to the counselor and smiled slightly. “I desperately wish to succeed because I have reason to believe that I will not be the last Gorn to apply.” He turns his body fully towards her. “To that end, Counselor, I need your help.” He took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. It’s never easy for the Gorn to ask for help on such a personal matter, but he was willing to do it if it meant he would be able to impart some wisdom to later generations of his people. "Anything I can do to help, I'm here." She then quirked a half-smile, "unless it involves soggy Orions again!" she teased. “No no,” Serixs said with a soft chuckle. “No more pranks and no more frightening the rest of the crew.” He smiled a bit. “I need your help coming to grips with all of this…With putting these aggressive instincts to a much more constructive use.” He considered a moment. “Perhaps it would be something you could write a paper or two on as well, assisting a highly aggressive species with transition into Federation life.” He smiled. “It could be worth an attempt.” He looked at her squarely, opening the nictating membranes protecting him from bright light and peering at her with his dark blue vertical slit eyes. “Will you help me?” He asked her, being as sincere as he possibly could be. "Of course I'll help. That's what friends do." She tilted her head to one side, "If that's not being too presumptuous on one evening's knowledge?" (Reply Serixs) "I bet Commander Worf went through a lot of the same stuff you are, I wonder if any of his public logs would help you?" She frowned, "Though, I'd imagine most warriors wouldn't feel comfortable broadcasting their self-percieved weaknesses to all and sundry. But it's a thought." (Reply Serixs) "I'll have to confess, Serixs, I'm a morale officer.. I'm good at organizing parties, and judging the general mood and feeling of the crew and really, doing much beyond reporting to the Senior Counsellors or Second Officer on a small ship, I'm not good with specifics." She rubbed a hand through her hair self-consciously and tried to look possitive. "I guess that just means we'll have to learn together, right?" She held up her glass to clink to seal the deal. (Reply Serixs) (posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 20:12) "Of course I'll help. That's what friends do." She tilted her head to one side, "If that's not being too presumptuous on one evening's knowledge?" Serixs has not considered this. Gorn do not make friends easily, but here he was asking this Orion woman that was quite nearly a perfect stranger to him for help on a very deep and personal matter. Then again, she had helped him in making a fool out of the Petty Officer, even if the results were not the best. Maybe he was getting soft in his old age. Besides, having a friend amongst the crew would help things a lot. "You are not being presumptuous," Serixs said to her. "While it is true that Gorn are not easy to trust others, I believe that us working together to make complete fools of ourselves tonight should count for something." He smiled at the Counselor and chuckled softly. "I bet Commander Worf went through a lot of the same stuff you are, I wonder if any of his public logs would help you?" She frowned, "Though, I'd imagine most warriors wouldn't feel comfortable broadcasting their self-perceived weaknesses to all and sundry. But it's a thought." "Perhaps," Serixs responded. "Though if I remember correctly, this Worf was raised by humans." He rubbed his chin and sipped on the Miridor while considering. "That would likely have a large impact upon his development, but it is indeed worth a try." "I'll have to confess, Serixs, I'm a morale officer.. I'm good at organizing parties, and judging the general mood and feeling of the crew and really, doing much beyond reporting to the Senior Counsellors or Second Officer on a small ship, I'm not good with specifics." She rubbed a hand through her hair self-consciously and tried to look possitive. "I guess that just means we'll have to learn together, right?" She held up her glass to clink to seal the deal. Serixs held up his glass as well, tapping it against hers. "Agreed," he responded. "I do believe this has never been tried before, so yes, we will have to learn together on this matter." He smiled and leaned back in his seat. "It will be interesting to see how things develop." He looked at his time and realized the hour. He had some preparations to make and reports to file before sleeping. "If you will excuse me, Jynea, I must check on my belongings in the Cargo bay, then return to my quarters and file a few reports. Perhaps in the morning, I can show you what I do to release aggression and we can proceed from there." (Reply Kreung) "Until then." He said, standing from the table. "Feel free to keep the bottle." He said, motioning to the Gorn Miridor still sitting on the table." He nodded slightly, then turned and stepped out of the lounge, making his way for Cargo Bay 2. (Reply Kreung) (Posted by Don Jones) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 39-D – ACEO Ensign Bourne - 20:15) ~What I would have done to change the gravity in these tubes right about now..~ Robin thought as he opened what seemed like the 100 th bulkhead access point. As he began reaching the outskirts of the hull, the damage was ever more evident. Support beams collapses, protective plating blown off their hinges, wires and pipes carrying thousands of volts of electricity dangling, sparking, and glowing in anger. This ship was not a happy one. "Soon fix you right up. Nothing to worry about. That's as long as you don't fry me in the process" He said to no one, passing carefully under a buckled plating. Seeing the door at the end was sealed, his guess was that the others didn't go in this direction. On many occasions during the journey had he have to do minor repairs so the backpack could fit through the gaps that he could. ~This equipment had better be used!~ he thought. As he finally got to the end of the tunnel, the automatic door system shot, producing a stream of golden and blue sparks. He felt a few hand on the top side of his hand, burning into his flesh. In pain, yet knowing he was on a mission, he shouted thorough the door "Hey, its me, door just shot and froze, hold on.." he shouted though. Grabbing the manual opener above, he forced the doors open. Looking through he saw that he was in the right place. "Something else to add to the damage list – it just keeps on growing!" he exclaimed, finally pushing the door sideways so he could slide through. (Reply O'Hara, Smith, Palmer) "Here, your equipment. Do you need me to be about or are you cool?" he said, placing it on the floor, watching the blood drip from his hand onto the pack. (Reply O'Hara, Smith, Palmer) "Ok, that's cool with me" he responded, picking up the PADD in the side pocket and adding the newly found damage. "Don't suppose one of you have a bandage or something? I am getting blood everywhere, and I don't want to add 'decontamination of blood' to this." (Reply O'Hara, Smith, Palmer) (Reply O'Hara, Smith, Palmer, any) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Hood - Ship's Lounge - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 20:15) Serixs held up his glass as well, tapping it against hers. "Agreed," he responded. "I do believe this has never been tried before, so yes, we will have to learn together on this matter." He smiled and leaned back in his seat. "It will be interesting to see how things develop." He looked up. "If you will excuse me, Jynea, I must check on my belongings in the Cargo bay, then return to the my quarters and file a few reports. Perhaps in the morning, I can show you what I do to release aggression and we can proceed from there." Jynea would think that releasing aggression would involve pounding a square peg into a round hole, but Serixs had never stopped surprising her, perhaps he meditated or played 3D chess. She really hoped it wasn't 3D chess, she was REALLY bad at strategy and thinking games. "Tomorrow morning then," she said with her best cheery smile. She also hoped that Gorn morning didn't start at 0500. She LIKED sleeping in, one of the few advantages of her position was she got to be active on all three shifts and sleep late. "Until then." He said, standing from the table. "Feel free to keep the bottle." He said, motioning to the Gorn Miridor still sitting on the table." He nodded slightly, then turned and stepped out of the lounge. What would she do with a bottle of Gorn liquor? She looked at it puzzled and then shrugged, resealing it. She would find a home for it sooner or later, she was sure, and it wasn't like she hadn't earned it. Cracking a yawn, Jynea also rose from the table. It had certainly been a day full of events! (Reply None) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor & Commander Talok - 20:15) "Sir, I have a hot target bearing one eighty mark two zero.....a Warbird, her shields are up & her disruptors are charged", said the Tactical officer. The very words of course made everyone suddenly sit up & take a lot more notice considering their position now within hostile territory, as an audible testament to this however, a loud thump from behind & to the rear of the Captain, heralded the cursing of an Engineering officer as he cracked his head hard against the underside of the console whilst withdrawing it from the access hatch beneath it. It didn't stop him though for within seconds he was back beneath the aforementioned console & engrossed in the task that had been set to him. Their options were little at this time of course, the Spectre was going nowhere unless it was under impulse & already the Warbird had changed course to an intercept indicating that they had detected the Federation vessel also. There was nothing more to it, they would now have to face the consequences of their actions & with that in mind, T'Vhor prepared himself for the inevitable. "Shall I raise shields sir?", said the TAC officer. The Captain paused just briefly to assess the situation in his head & then suddenly gave the order not to do so. "Do not raise shields, we are in Romulan territory in a less than favourable situation", said the Captain, "what hope do we have against a Warbird in our current condition", he added rhetorically. "Aye sir, the Warbird is now hailing us", said the Tactical officer. "On screen", said the Captain & the face of an irate Romulan quickly appeared upon their viewscreen. "Commander Talok", said T'Vhor with a cursory nod, "I trust your losses were not too great in our exchange of fire with the Alpha", he added. Talok said nothing at first as he looked about the bridge of the Spectre, noticing as he did so the damaged consoles at the rear of her bridge & the repair crew working upon them. =/\=It would seem that you faired just as badly Captain=/\=, said Talok, =/\=I take it you sent the Commander of that garbage scowl to his grave=/\=, he added. "We have Captain Ryan in custody Commander, the remains of his vessel are as you can now see, nothing but fragments all around us", said T'Vhor. =/\=And the second vessel, of Gorn configuration I believe?=/\=, said Talok. "Sent to assist, now returning to Gorn space Commander", said Captain T'Vhor, "they have no concern other than to.......", he added before the Romulan suddenly cut him off mid sentence. =/\=May I remind you Captain that you are in Romulan space & are, in respect of that, in violation of our treaty=/\=, said Talok, his expression now changing to something a little more hostile. "I am aware of this Commander, we are ret.......", said the Captain as once again the Romulan Commander cut him off mid sentence. =/\=What are you doing here Captain, why would the 52nd fleet command send an armed vessel into Romulan space=/\=, said Talok. =/\=I trust you are not on a sight seeing tour=/\=, he added with just the slightest hint of a smile now. Captain T'Vhor paused briefly at the intrusion, it was true that the Romulan deserved an explanation but T'Vhor could not divulge sensitive orders in order to give him one of course. "I regret I am unable to relay the specifics of our mission Commander, all I can tell you is that our mission is of the utmost importance to both of us", said the Captain just as Talok leaned back into his seat as though he were hearing exactly what he had expected to hear. =/\=Then you give me nothing Captain=/\=, said Talok a little annoyed now. =/\=What possible motive could the Federation have in ordering one of it's vessels into Romulan space=/\=, said the Romulan, expecting little more than the Federation Captain had already given him of course. Captain T'Vhor wasted no time now in his next statement, as a Vulcan it was unlike him to lie & yet here he was about to do precisely that. "We are under our own volition Commander, a lone vessel acting upon information received, the Federation has no knowledge of our wherabouts", said T'Vhor. =/\=A lie Captain....from a Vulcan?, I find that hard to believe=/\=, said Talok suspiciously, =/\=nevertheless, you cannot blame navigational error or a neglectful helm so I can only deduce that your motives are not in our favour=/\=, he added. But then all of a sudden the Romulan changed tact. =/\=I am tired of all this Captain, you lie, we lie, it is the way it is & the way it probably always will be...=/\=, said Talok, =/\=I am now supposed to destroy your vessel but what will it achieve?=/\=, he added, =/\=I suspect that it may very much alter the thin & delicate thread of both our political powers & we will continue on our way with little learned into a highly likely war with the Federation=/\=, said Talok. T'Vhor nodded appropriately. "I cannot argue with that logic Commander", said the Federation Captain, "I can only reiterate that our motives here are just, our mission must succeed in order to sustain what we know now", he added. "It is in the favour of both the Romulan people & those of the Federation that we succeed" Talok sighed deeply at the words & rubbed at the side of his face, it appeared that he was deep in thought, it was probably fortuitous that fate had brought them both here & now, for had this been any other Romulan, the Spectre would probably have joined the debris of the Zulu Alpha strewn all about them. =/\=Your warp engines are offline Captain & you have minimal shielding, there would be no glory whatsoever in destroying your vessel=/\=, said Talok, =/\=once you have warp capability again, we will escort you back into Federation space, but rest assured that this matter will be brought before the senate & consequences may follow=/\=, said Talok. Captain T'Vhor nodded once & then thanked the Romulan Commander for his assistance in the fight with the Zulu Alpha, he then cut the communication before opening a channel to Engineering once again. "Bridge to Engineering", said the Captain. (Reply Bristed or Bourne) "The status of repairs to our warp drive please Ensign if you will", said T'Vhor hoping that they had made some progress now. (Reply Bristed or Bourne) The news was better than he had hoped but confusing also, the Captain only hoped that nothing else went wrong. (Reply Bristed, Bourne, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Nurse Douwsy - 20:19) Douwsy had been keeping an eye on O’Harper since their conversation. She saw Andrew emerge from the operating theatre. ~Need to talk to him now~ She waited until he had handed over his patient and was heading across sickbay. “Dr Williams can I have a word with you in your office?” (Reply Williams) Douwsy followed Andrew into his office. She sat down in the chair opposite him. (Reply Williams) Douwsy paused for a moment. “Andrew. O’Harper’s patient died. I think Dr O’Harper is having problems coming to terms with it.” (Reply Williams) “He was closed and unemotional about the patients death.” (Reply Williams) “I know doctors are supposed to have distance from there patients so that they do not become emotionally detached. Sir this is not professional detachment.” (Reply Williams) “No Andrew I don’t think he is any danger but I’ve seen what can happen to people when they don’t come to closure.” (reply Williams) “Thank you Andrew.” Douwsy stood up and left the office and headed back to her patients. (Reply Williams, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D – Corporal Lewis O'Hara - 20:20) The sound of the bulkhead door slamming shut at the end of the Jeffery's tube was more than enough to scare the living bejeezus's out of even the calmest crewman on the ship, the fact that it had also shook the conduits as it fell, only served to make the three unfortunates this side of it cower in clear anticipation of one almighty explosion to follow, as their 'unwanted guest' sent them all to heaven in a huge quantum explosion. As it was though, no such detonation actually occurred & each of the three crewmen, one by one opened their eyes to the fact that someone had tripped an automatic door nearby. "Hey, its me... door just shot and froze, hold on..", came a voice from somewhere on the other side of the closed hatch. "What the...who the hell....!", cried Palmer, his heart beat now gradually returning to a more acceptable level within his ribcage as the door began to rise to the telltale noise of a hand crank lever, slowly returning it to it's opened position again. "Something else to add to the damage list – it just keeps on growing!", said the disembodied voice of the crewman now coming more & more into view of the others, along with a substantial amount of smoke from the damaged accessway beyond, as it rose into the air around him. Then all of a sudden, the man came tumbling through the opened aperture to position himself exhausted before Palmer, Smith & O'Hara. "I take it you must be Bourne?", said Palmer noticing the Engineering uniform as the Engineer placed the needed equipment onto the floor whilst dripping blood onto the handle of the case in the process. "Here, your equipment. Do you need me to be about or are you cool?", said Bourne as though in a hurry to get out of there again. "Cool as can be considering we have a full yield, fifty to one hundred Isoton quantum charge sitting behind this bulkhead", said Palmer sarcastically as he glanced to the others. "But I guess there's no need to risk yet another life here, you might as well get down to sickbay & get that sorted", he added pointing to the Engineers injured hand as it continued to drip blood upon the iron grated floor of the Jeffery's tube. "And make sure you get a report in on the damage back there too", said O'Hara glancing back through the Jeffery's tube at the burnt & blackened walls beyond. "Ok, that's cool with me", said the Engineer as he removed a PADD from the side pocket of the equipment case to log the damage for repair... "Don't suppose one of you have a bandage or something? I am getting blood everywhere, and I don't want to add 'decontamination of blood' to this.", said Bourne hopefully. O'Hara simply glanced to Palmer, then Palmer glanced towards Smith. "You have medical training don't you Agent Smith, can you do anything?", said Palmer. (Reply Smith, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Engineering - ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 20:20) Bristed had guessed it would take somewhere between an hour and two hours to get the warp drive operational again. As it turned out, it seemed she'd guessed right, which was a satisfying if not unusual event for her. At least in the realm of repairs and equipment...The job would probably take another twenty minutes or so to get the warp drive operational, and the rest of the two hours she'd conjectured could be used to bring it back to optimal working levels. This team knew what it was doing, even when all hell had broken loose. =^=Bridge to Engineering=^= said the Captain. "Bristed here," she answered. ~What do you want? You said to say something after it was good to go!~ She hoped her irritation hadn't carried through. =^=The status of repairs to our warp drive please Ensign if you will.=^= That was easy enough, even if it was mildly irritating. Somehow asking "How are you doing?" was akin to a child asking "When will we get there?" in her mind, so any such inquiries were somewhat of a nuisance. "We're getting there. Fifteen, twenty minutes and we can haul ourselves out of here. It's not going to be perfect, but it will do the job until we can get everything back to normal, sir." Maybe longer, seeing as she had to become familiar with this particular ship's warp set-up, and any modifications and jerry-rigging made by the Spectre's engineering crew. "Sir, is there a warp specialist on board?" If there were, he probably would have turned up by now, but it couldn't hurt to ask. As she waited for the answer, she looked to see what else she could accomplish without getting in the way of any other engineers. It would be nice to know everyone a little better before the next crisis occurred, so that she and Bourne would be better able to coordinate the whole thing instead of getting in the way. (reply T'Vhor) "Mmkay, thanks, sir." She pulled a man of what had to be mixed lineage aside, noticing he didn't seem as busy as some of the others. "Something's not going right with the dilithium articulation frames, I think. Unless someone got to it already, but I don't think so. Oh, and any idea where Ensign Bourne might be?" The man's response sent her in the direction of the space matrix restoration coil. Which happened to be housed in a different place than where she thought it should be. What was more, there was no sign Bourne had been over there. "Bristed to Bourne," she said, glad of the combadge for situations like this. "Have you been by the space matrix restoration coil, or should I get that?" (Reply T'Vhor, Bourne, Any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 20:21) Andrew felt happy. He was glad that the operation had gone well. He had just handed over the patient when Douwsy came over to him. “Dr Williams can I have a word with you in your office?” “Yes of course. Why don’t we talk in my office.” He ushered Douwsy into his office and offered her a seat. “So Douwsy what can I do for you.” “Andrew. O’Harper’s patient died. I think Dr O’Harper is having problems coming to terms with it.” ~Not good~ “Go on.” “He was closed and unemotional about the patients death.” “He’s a Doctor. They are taught to distance themselves from their patients.” “I know doctors are supposed to have distance from their patients so that they do not become emotionally detached. Sir this is not professional detachment.” Andrew paused for a moment before asking the next question. “Do you think he’s in any danger?” “No Andrew I don’t think he is any danger but I’ve seen what can happen to people when they don’t come to closure.” Andrew nodded. “Okay Douwsy I’ll have a quiet talk to Dr O’Harper but later I have to make my report to the Captain.” “Thank you Andrew.” Andrew nodded as Douwsy left his office. He sat there for a moment thinking about what they had talked about. He then took his PADD and finished his report to the captain. (Reply, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D – Ensign (JG) Robin Bourne - 20:22) "Don't suppose one of you have a bandage or something? I am getting blood everywhere, and I don't want to add 'decontamination of blood' to this.", said Bourne hopefully. O'Hara simply glanced to Palmer, then Palmer glanced towards Smith. "You have medical training don't you Agent Smith, can you do anything?", said Palmer. (Reply Smith) =/\=Bristed to Bourne=/\= a voice interrupted from above. =/\=Have you been by the space matrix restoration coil, or should I get that? =/\= As Bourne sighed with the thought of crawling back through the damage wreck, he looked at Smith with apology, and tapped his combadge to answer "Bristed, Bourne here. That's a new one to me, have not been there for a while. On my way back from Jeffery's tube 41D, Palmer say they found something strange, needed a Visual Discriminator.. Whatever for I have no clue" He paused realising he was going on a little too long in answering her question. "Want me to get it when I get back to engineering?" he replied (Reply Bristed) "Sounds good, let me finish off a quick damage report up here, and I will be on route. Bourne out" he finished. ~at least this time I don't have a massive backpack~ he thought as he imagined the route he was going to take back. (Reply Smith IYW) Robin looked through the Jefferies tube where the warhead was located whilst creating a new damage report in the PADD. "There's not much damage in there.. A lot less then I would expect with a warhead penetrating our hull..." he said openly as he tapped away. (Reply Palmer, Smith, O'Hara) Robin stopped tapping, and looked back down the tube. "Riiiiight. Erm, well, I am needed, erm, elsewhere.... So I better get going… So, yea, good luck with that.." he answered quickly whilst giving a shy, nervy smile before shooting himself down the way he came. (Reply Palmer, Smith, O'Hara IYW) (Reply Palmer, Smith, O'Hara, Bristed, any) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 20:22) To say that the situation was now tense was to say the very least, an understatement. Even for a half Vulcan Captain like T'Vhor the stress was beginning to tell, & yet still each & every member on board had performed both above & beyond the call of duty. He was aware of course that his crew had pulled double, & sometimes even triple shifts during the last few days of this mission, & that tension could now be heard quite clearly in the Ensigns voice, as she responded to his requests for updates on their progress in regards the warp core. =/\=Sir, is there a warp specialist on board?=/\= said Bristed after giving him some timeframe to work from. Now there was a question..... The only man who knew the Spectre's engines like the back of his hands of course, was currently AWOL & that was of no use at all. If H'Chir could be coaxed out of the woodwork now however, not only would it give him yet another chance to redeem himself to this crew, it would also prove to his CO that he was finally free, to an extent anyway, of the controlling influences of the particular brand of demons inhabiting his tormented mind. "One moment Ensign Bristed, I'll see if I am able to get you that help", said the Captain already unsure as to wether he would be successful. =/\=Mm Kay, thanks sir=/\= said Bristed as she closed the comms & then returned to the tasks she had been dealing with. The Captain turned briefly towards the tactical officer manning TAC One, then he asked if there was any more news on the Andorian Engineer. The TAC officer simply shook his head & replied in the negative. The last they had heard, Vasilyovna had been led on a veritable wild goose chase in pursuit of H'Chirs combadge signal, only to find that the engineer had attached it to the collar of Ensign Desoto's cat in order to avoid detection! Ensign Yates of course had found it highly hilarious but Vasilyovna had been positively fuming over it, her Russian sense of humour clearly being much less in evidence on this particular occasion it would seem. The Captain however had now returned his attention to his armrest controls in order to initiate a general call to all decks in the hope that H'Chir might be listening, wherever he happened to be at this particular moment in time. "This is the Captain to CEO H'Chir, please respond", said T'Vhor. All eyes had now turned towards him of course as like him, they all hoped that he would now present himself at their time of need. Predictably, there was of course no response but the CO knew the Andorian well enough now to know that he very probably wouldn't answer immediately, due to sheer mistrust & a certain amount of complacency over the entire situation regarding the first bomb. If they needed his services now then he'd make them work for it & T'Vhor knew this. Nevertheless, the Captain continued on regardless. "Ensign H'Chir, if you are able to hear me, please report to Engineering where your specialist knowledge of the Spectre's warp systems are now in need", said the Captain, hoping now that he was in some way appealing to the Andorian Engineers better senses. It was a shot in the dark of course, H'Chir had been wounded by the crews reluctance to take his advice already, wether he would respond now or not was pretty much hit & miss at best, but then even if he didn't, there was still the chance that he would simply turn up in Engineering with spanner in hand. The Spectre's Engine's were his babies after all.... (Reply H'Chir IYW, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering- ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 20:23) =/\=Bristed to Bourne=/\= a voice interrupted from above. =/\=Have you been by the space matrix restoration coil, or should I get that? =/\= As Bourne sighed with the thought of crawling back through the damage wreck, he looked at Smith with apology, and tapped his combadge to answer =^=Bristed, Bourne here. That's a new one to me, have not been there for a while. On my way back from Jeffery's tube 41D, Palmer says they found something strange, needed a Visual Discriminator.. Whatever for I have no clue. Want me to get it when I get back to engineering?=^= "It'd probably be better if we both worked on it, so we can make sure the other one didn't screw up from fatigue, or whatever." She stifled a yawn midsentence. ~Two pairs of bleary eyes have to be better than one, right?~ =^=Sounds good, let me finish off a quick damage report up here, and I will be on route. Bourne out=^= Jacqueline turned her attention back to the space matrix restoration coil, now sure that it had been left unchecked after...well, not all of hell, but a sizable amount had broken loose on the ship. "So what's wrong with you?" she asked the equipment, hoping for that intuition that she would have considered half an answer, but nothing came. She ran a scan over the thing anyhow. If it wasn't working perfectly they'd have a nasty shock when they tried to get out of warp, so she didn't want to chance that nothing was wrong. In fact, it would probably be a good idea to recalibrate it as soon as Bourne showed regardless of how it was operating. A blip or two registered on her tricorder, but no real damage had occurred. "Good. At least something's going right." Or, if this particular thing wasn't, they wouldn't be around for long after they found out. ~At least we can return that bit of hell on our way if that happens.~ Disgusted with her own bad humor, the young woman began working on resetting and reconnecting the matrix coil, blinking away the tiredness invading her eyes as she did so. (reply Bourne, any) (Posted by Siobhan) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 20:25) Jynea walked through the door planning a good nap on the luxuriously soft couch when she stopped in shock. It looked like it had been snowing in her quarters. Blink. Blink. She bent down and picked up a bit of the white stuff, it appeared to be some sort of stuffing. Following the stuff as it got deeper, Jynea found the desicated pillow. "Oh dear." Something had sure put up a fight! She looked around. Where was Mark? She peered under the bed and in the bathroom, no sign of the lagomorph. She had a quick search around the quarters with no luck. "Computer, location of non-sentient dependant Mark?" [The Arboretum.] Jynea probably looked at puzzled as she felt. Who would come into her quarters, kindap her rabbit and release him into the Hood's arboretum?! (Reply None) (Posted by Lorna Appleby) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's Tube 41-D – Agent Smith - 20:26) "You have medical training don't you Agent Smith, can you do anything?" ~Enough for that anyway.~ She smiled. "Yep no problem. I'll be right back. Just don't bleed over the deck eh." =/\=Bristed to Bourne=/\= a voice interrupted from above. =/\=Have you been by the space matrix restoration coil, or should I get that? =/\= As Bourne was having his conversation, Jo moved back along the Jeffery's tube until she reached the main junction. She opened a hatch and pulled out a small med kit. Now properly armed she returned and opened it in front of her. Inside was a dermal regenerator and hypospray and a few other useful equipment. "Sounds good, let me finish off a quick damage report up here, and I will be en route. Bourne out" "Lets have a look at that hand." ~nice clear laceration will be fine~ She picked up the dermal regenerator. It hummed into life as she activated it. With a couple of quick passes over Bourne's hand she was done. She gave him a smile. "There you go. Good as new." "There's not much damage in there.. A lot less then I would expect with a warhead penetrating our hull..." Jo packed away the med kit and took another look at the scans. "Riiiiight. Erm, well, I am needed, erm, elsewhere.... So I better get going… So, yea, good luck with that.." Jo smiled as she saw Bourne disappear fast down the corridor. ~Nothing like the prospect of getting blown into small peices to get your priority's straight. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's tube 41 D - Corporal Lewis O'Hara - 20:28) Corporal O'Hara fished apparently aimlessly through the kit that Ensign Bourne had just arrived with, the discriminator however was pretty much the first thing he had laid his hand on & within seconds, it was out of the casing & interfaced with the tricorder he held in his hand, so as to provide a visual representation of what actually lay beyond the bulkhead before him. It wasn't magic of course but to some it might seem so, as the screen set into the device came to life to show an in depth, colour scan of the lie of the land behind the bulkhead panel itself. ODN channels & EPS conduits now appeared to pulse with a life of their own as he moved the scanning head slowly over the wall, then when he began fine tuning the depth range of the instrument, items further back within the mass of equipment suddenly came into view in the same visual clarity. Smith had now returned of course & she had already set about fixing Bourne's hand with the medical equipment she had returned with, whilst Bourne himself tapped the fingers of his good hand against his leg in a rhythmic fashion as he contemplated the events that had led him there. "There's not much damage in there..", he mused, "a lot less then I would expect with a warhead penetrating our hull...", he added as he watched the skin of his damaged hand miraculously closing over with the effects of the dermal regenerator. ~Now that was magic~ thought the Demo man as he watched Smith at work before returning his attention thenceforth to the job in hand once again. O'Hara worked on methodically with the discriminator, but he couldn't help wondering if the Ensign had perhaps banged his head on the way up there, he seemed to be under the impression now that the warhead components they had found, had been embedded in their hull after penetrating it from the outside in some way! Ok, they had taken damage during their firefight with the Alpha & a certain amount of collateral damage was in evidence throughout the ship, but this one was definitely not something that had passed through their outer hull. Was he even aware that what they were investigating here & now was not a warhead as such, but more the internal components of one, integrated into something very much different as a means to catalyze an explosive reaction big enough to vapourize a starship? It seemed not.... O'Hara quirked his head slightly as a fully healed Ensign Bourne made his way past him to go back from whence he had came, he had been voicing something along the lines of going where he was needed as he did so, but Lewis only caught just the tail end of it as he began moving off down the Jeffery's tube. "So, yea, good luck with that..", the man had said as he disappeared from their view. "Good luck?", said O'Hara quizzically, "he does realize that if this thing blows it won't just effect us but everyone doesn't he?", he added. Wether the Engineer had actually heard him or not though he was unsure, for by that time, he was well on his way again & O'Hara was back on the job of 'discriminating'.... It took a few more minutes of scanning about of course, but then all of a sudden, the reality of the situation began to dawn upon him as he sat back in contemplation whilst Palmer & Smith looked on like expectant parents awaiting news of an unborn. "This get's weirder by the minute", said O'Hara, "according to this there's somebody back there", he added. (Reply Smith, IYW) Palmer scratched his head as O'Hara rechecked his findings just to be sure. "I'm reading a lifeform, indiscriminate but it's deffinately the source of the organic material I was reading earlier", said O'Hara puzzled at the findings. "How can that be?", said Palmer. "I dunno, whatever it is it's organic, it's alive & occasionally on the move", said O'Hara, "but it's also the location of the Quantum filaments & some kind of photon triggering device", he added. "This isn't anything like any bomb I've ever seen".... (Reply Smith, IYW) "I'm not touching this until the Captain has been made aware of ALL the details, if someone is back there with...whatever it is, I'm not going to interfere with it until I have clear orders on it", said O'Hara as he sat back against the bulkhead shaking his head from side to side & running his hand slowly through his hair. (Reply Smith, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (GDV Sssharussa - Captain's Ready Room - Captain Ruxsa Zernix - 20:30) Ruxsa was seated behind her desk, going over the last of the letters she had to write for the families of those Gorn who had died in the past hours. Damage control was completed and everything was running as well as could be expected. There was no small moment of tension when their sensors noticed the Romulans de-cloak in front of the Spectre shortly after their departure, but the tension cooled when it became obvious that the Romulans were more interested in escorting the Federation vessel out of there instead of blowing it to pieces. Now, the Gorn were clear of Romulan space and back in home territory. In a few hours, they would be back to their homeworlds for some much needed relaxation. Still, Ruxsa was troubled by the addendum to their orders and the changes that Fleet Command made to her own personnel record without her knowledge. Seems that being out of communication with Fleet Command gave them the opportunity they needed to strongarm her into a position she did not want to be in. With a quiet and weary sigh, the female Gorn closed down the log terminal and rubbed her tired eyes moments before the door to her ready room beeped to signal someone wishing entry. "Enter!" She barked as she moved to gather up a few PADDs with information she had been ordered to go over. She sat down at her chair once more as the familiar form of her First Officer walked into small room. "You sent for me, Captain?" Krusse said to her as he stood just inside the doorway and looked at his bedraggled Captain. "Yes I did, Sub-Captain," Ruxsa responded and pointed at the seat across her desk from her own. "Sit down." Without hesitation, the younger Gorn walked to the chair and sat in it, looking at his commanding officer intently. She was not pleased. Not in the least. He could tell, though, that her anger was not directed at him. She had the look on her face that meant she was in a position that was beyond her control and it frustrated her to no end. She leaned back in her seat and studied the face of her First Officer for some moments before she continued. "Have you dealt with that financial situation of yours?" She asked him, crossing her arms over her chest and tilting her head just slightly to the side. With his hands in his lap and fidgeting just slightly, he responded an affirmative to her. "I have, Captain," Krusse said. "I have made certain arrangements to have my debts resolved by this time tomorrow." With that response, Ruxsa picked up another PADD from her pile and started to scroll through it. "Good," she said to him. "A Gorn officer with a gambling problem that owes money to the Ferengi has no place commanding a starship." Ruxsa looked at him, her green eyes drawing tightly and the pupils closing into barely visible vertical slits. "It was against my better judgment not put you on report with Fleet Command concerning this matter." "With all due respect, Captain," Krusse began, feeling like he was about to get skinned alive by his CO, "why did you not?" Ruxsa took a deep breath and let out a long low sigh as she closed in on the table and leaned against it. "The reason, Krusse," She said to him, her tone softer now and her expression far less hostile, "is that no one is perfect. You admitted the problem to me before I found out about it. That shows you recognized it. Once we got you past that, you have been nothing short of an exemplary officer. I took a chance on you and have yet to regret it. Now that the issue of your finances is handled, you are ready to move on." She smiled slightly. "I am willing to forget the matter of this debt." Kruse just looked at her. She had not spoken quite like this before, and what did she mean by move on. "Captain, what is all this about?" Krusse asked her. It was unlike Ruxsa to keep him in the dark on anything that pertained to his career or the operation of the Sssharussa. He watched her lean over, taking up another PADD and reading it to get the jist of all of their new orders again. "I contacted Fleet Command concerning our repair," she said. "However, what I discovered is that there is no plan to refit the Sssharussa." This stunned Krusse. The vessel was old and the only thing keeping her going were regular refits to keep the tech up to level. "But...Why, Captain?" he asked her, looking a bit puzzled and very worried. "The Sssharussa is to be decomissioned upon our arrival at Dock Facility 21," Ruxsa said to him, reading through the PADD. "The Engineers have finally worked the problems out of the Sirok class Cruiser and it will be ready for launch next week to begin shakedown." "So we will be relocating to the Sirok?" He asked her again, feeling there was something she was not telling him. "No, Krusse," she said, shaking her head slowly. "You will be assuming command. This is my final voyage as your Captain." Krusse was speechless and could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Effective immediately, I have been forcibly promoted to the rank of Commodore." Ruxsa added with no small measure of contempt. "I am to assume command of the 31st Expeditionary Fleet of which the Sirok will be the Flagship." She sighed and tapped her right bracer, drawing Krusse's attention to the Commodore rank pinned there. "Fleet command saw fit to force the Promotion through while we were assisting the Spectre. I should have seen it coming." She rolled her green eyes and looked at one of the PADDs again. "They have been trying to force this promotion for years. I had been able to get around it before, but not this time. The Spectre was a convenient excuse to get the Promotion through." She pinned him with her gaze. "You know how I feel about being a flag officer." Krusse nodded. "Experienced officers should be commanding Starships, not flying desks." Krusse said to her, miming the words she told him a decade before. "Precisely," she said to him, crossing one of her legs over the other and turning a bit in her chair. "I cannot help but remember the words of a Federation officer in this matter." She looked at him. "The fat one with the dead Tribble on his head. The one that cost us Cestus III." "James Kirk." Krusse responded, nodding at her colorful description. "Yes," she began. "In one of his speeches, he said that while you sit in that chair." she added, pointing out towards the bridge. "You can make a difference." She shrugged. "Wise words, though I suspect the Tribble was doing most of the thinking." She chuckled softly. "Commodore!?!" Krusse said, trying to keep a straight face. "It is true, though." She said, regaining her serious demeanor. "Now, the chair is yours and it is about time too, which means it is up to you to make a difference." Ruxsa looked at Krusse, noticing his own demeanor change slightly, like he wanted to tell her something, but could not get it out. "What is it, Captain?" She asked him. "Nothing, Commodore." He said softly, though she could see a hint of guilt creeping into his features. She shook her head and put it aside. She felt the same way when she was promoted to Captain and given her own command. "Very well." She said, handing him two PADDs. "I took the liberty of assembling your senior staff from crew on board the Sssharussa." Krusse took it and looked through the list, seeing all the familiar names. "These are Gorn you have worked with well in the past and I believe you will need their skills in the coming months." Krusse nodded and turned to the second PADD. "Those are the technical specifications of your new command. Familiarize yourself with them." She added. "The Sirok is state of the art in every way. She uses Phasers instead of Disruptors and packs type-20 Plasma Torpedos. Bio-neural circuitry in the computer core, a new deflector shield system, and an experimental Cloaking Device." She smiled as Krusse followed along on the PADD. "She will put us back in even step with the Federation instead of years behind like we are now." "Quite amazing." Krusse said to her. "Most of these systems are still experimental and..." He looked again at the markings he was seeing. "reportedly do not exist?" Ruxsa nodded. "Yes," She began. "That vessel is bleeding edge technology and will be the basis for future vessels to come." Krusse simply nodded and put the two PADDs into the pocket of his uniform, then looked at his former Captain once more. "Following my briefing with the Fleet Admiral tomorrow, your promotion to Captain will become official. Congratulations, Krusse." "Thank you Commodore." He said, smiling. "Go and meet with your new senior staff," she said. "Give them the news of this." Krusse nodded and stood. "Dismissed." She watched as he turned and left her ready room. Once the door closed, she got this eerie feeling that something was wrong and she could not shake it. She shoved it aside. Likely just nerves considering what her crew had been dealing with in recent months. She sighed and activated her terminal once more, returning to the last few letters she had to write. (reply none) (Posted by Don Jones) (USS Spectre - Jeffery's tube 41 D - Agent Smith - 20:33) "This get's weirder by the minute", said O'Hara, "according to this there's somebody back there", he added. ~What the hell~ Jo looked over O’Hara’s shoulder and frowned at the tricorder readings. “That’s not good” "I'm reading a lifeform, indiscriminate but it's deffinately the source of the organic material I was reading earlier", said O'Hara puzzled at the findings. "How can that be?", said Palmer. "I dunno, whatever it is it's organic, it's alive & occasionally on the move", said O'Hara, "but it's also the location of the Quantum filaments & some kind of photon triggering device", he added. "This isn't anything like any bomb I've ever seen".... “Hmm your not the only one.” "I'm not touching this until the Captain has been made aware of ALL the details, if someone is back there with...whatever it is, I'm not going to interfere with it until I have clear orders on it" Jo nodded. “Good idea. It would be nice for him to know what’s going on if everything go's pear shaped.” (reply O’Hara, Palmer) (reply O’Hara, Palmer, any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 20:33) Andrew heard raised voices as he entered sickbay. He was on his way to find the captain but needed to get another PADD. “ARE YOU TOTALLY INCOMPETENT DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND ANYTHING?” Andrew saw O’Harper and Douwsy standing near a patient. O’Harper had gone red with rage he was shaking his fists at Douwsy. ~What the hell~ He quickly moved over to O’Harper. “Dr O’Harper.” O’Harper spun round. “WHAT!” He quickly regained his composure. “Dr O’Harper would you please come into my office.” He then turned and walk to his office. He sat down and waited to O’Harper to join him. “Dr O’Harper what just happened in there?” He asked calmly. There was no reason to yell and shout. “Nurse Douwsy wanted me to prescribe more analgesia. The patient had already had his limit on what on his chart.” “What was wrong with that request.” “I had other important things to deal with at that moment.” Andrew paused for a moment thinking about how to carry on. “It has come to my attention that you are having problems coping with the death of the pilot.” O’Harper’s face went red again. “What has Douwsy said? What does she know about it she is just a stupid F****ng nurse.” ~That’s enough~ Andrew stared hard at him. “’Sister’ Douwsy is the nurse in charge of this sickbay. She is a highly trained Nurse working in a number of departments such as A&E, Theatre and phyic. So Dr O’Harper she dose know quite a bit about people and emotions.” He watched as O’Harper calmed down. He rubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t think that I can carry on working on the Spectre. Andrew nodded. “Working in a sickbay is one of the most stressful positions. It dose not suit everyone.” “Its also the amount of death here. People always seem to die.” ~That is something I really want to change~ “If you want I can contact the captain and see if were near a ship you can transfer to. It can take you back to Geneva?” “No. I want to work out my time until we get back.” “Okay. Do you want to see a counsellor?” O’Harper shook his head. “Not here. Not while I’m on board.” Andrew nodded. “Okay I’ll put you in contact with a friend that I know when we dock.” He paused before he carried on. “Have you done last offices on your patient?” “No I just can not do it.” “Its okay. I’ll do it myself. I want you to sit here until you feel that you are able to go and apologise to Nurse Douwy and your patient. Then I want you to got to your quarters take it easy for a while.” O’Harper looked up and Andrew rose from his seat and scooped up a second PADD. “But Dr Williams I’m….” Andrew placed a hand on his shoulder. “No. You go and sit down for a bit.” With that he walked out of his office. ~At least he’s not going to die like the others. Do this first and then find the Captian~ (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering- ACEO Ensign Robin Bourne - 20:35) Robin appeared the maintenance access for the Jeffries tube. Covered in smoke, ash and blood, he walked to the nearest free console and attempted to log in. Searching through the bulletins, he found the one that registered the warhead, and noticed it was the same as when he first read it. Swiftly he began to edit it. ~Warhead was placed, minimal damage surrounding it. Defuse squad in position, if they want something, give it to them. Transporters not recommended as warhead is armed and live. If the ship shakes from explosion, emergency repair teams to check the area..~ He thought whilst he typed. Finishing and checking, he thought of adding if the ship was still intact, but thought better of, and left it. Finalizing the message, he slammed his fist onto the console, sending the bulletin on its way. He didn't care that many people were now staring at him as all he wanted to do was finish the repairs and get some rest. ~This was nothing like the simulations…~ "Bristed, You called" he yelled over to the warp core, watching Bristed work on the matrix coil playing around with the connectors. (Reply Bristed) "Its cool, been to some of the worst damaged areas – came out with the evidence" he said smearing some dried blood as he attempted to brush it off. "Hope I don't offend anyone with the way I look – and I might have to change for that drink…" (Reply Bristed) "Yep, already on it" he replied heading towards the nearest console. "So, did I miss much down here?" he asked as he accessed the automated recalibration screen, and activated it. (Reply Bristed) He watched as the status bar screen turned from a warning orange up to a healthier green. "Well, looks like were in luck, its getting better. Nowhere near the recommended specs, but getting nearer. I'm going to check the crystals, make sure they are not damaged too much. The quicker we get this thing on, the better" he said, walking towards the access shoot. "The computer has thrown up some suggestions if your interested, although I still don't trust it from before." Robin announced, still thinking from the first time he noticed the problem. ~Nothing should have cancelled a cloak alarm.. Nothing.. so why…~ (Reply Bristed, any) (Posted by Robin Bourne) (USS Spectre - Main Engineering- ACEO Ensign Jacqueline Bristed - 20:38) "Bristed, You called" called Bourne. "Sure did. I thought I'd get started on this thing while I was waiting." She turned to look at him. He looked terrible, somewhat bloodier and dirtier than 'Fleet regulations would like. "You, um, you okay?" she asked. "Its cool, been to some of the worst damaged areas, came out with the evidence" he said smearing some dried blood as he attempted to brush it off. "Hope I don't offend anyone with the way I look, and I might have to change for that drink" "Naw, nobody'll be offended. It's just an interesting fashion statement. Probably only on Qo'nos, but whatever...Can you help me out with this recalibration?" "Yep, already on it," Bourne replied. "So, did I miss much down here?" "Not really. Just everyone scrambling to get whatever repairs there are done. We should be ready to get out of here soon, if nothing insane comes up." She continued working on the matrix coil as she spoke, although the work was nearly done. "Well, looks like were in luck, its getting better. Nowhere near the recommended specs, but getting nearer. I'm going to check the crystals, make sure they are not damaged too much. The quicker we get this thing on, the better" he said, walking towards the access shoot. "The computer has thrown up some suggestions if your interested, although I still don't trust it from before." Robin announced. "Thanks, I'll check it. But you're right, that computer has been acting...weird." She finished tweaking the matrix coil, praying that it was operating properly now. Walking to the console, she checked what else the computer suggested needed work. One of the suggestions was the magnetic restriction coil she'd worked on earlier. ~You have to be joking. It's like the computer's hazing me or something. I thought only idiotic crewmembers pulled those stunts, not the machinery they worked with.~ On the other hand, the magnetic restriction coil might not be working properly again. Maybe it would be best if she replaced it entirely before moving on...With a resigned sigh, she went off to fetch the equipment she'd need to do so. (Reply Bourne, any) (Posted by Siobhan Armstrong) (USS Spectre - Morgue - CMO - Williams - 20:45) Andrew stood beside the cold dark torpedo shell. He had done this more times then he would like to remember since joining the Spectre. Every time he felt that he had to come and be with his patients one last time. He was not quite sure what brought him here. He knew that closure was part of it. To say good bye to the person that he had failed to keep alive. Maybe it was just to make sure that he could treat them with dignity up to the end. Maybe it was both these things and more. ~I’m sorry my friend~ He knew that doctors had to keep distance from there patients so that they can keep their objectivity and not get to personally involved. He had always found this very hard to do. Even more so when they were his patients that had died and every patient in sickbay was his. ~Time to go~ He placed his hand onto the torpedo casing. “Well my friend I hope your journey is a safe one where ever it maybe.” With that he turned and walked back to the patients that still needed him. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Hood - Arboretum - Ensign (JG) Jynea Kreung - 21:00) Jynea crawled around on her knees looking under bushes, following a trail of nibbled plants and leaves. The computer could probably give her an exact coordinate of Mark's location from the embedded locater chip, but what would such coordinates mean to her? Maybe she should teach the computer 'hot / cold' and have it lead her on a child's chase through the damp soil. She saw a flash of white disappear down a different path. "AH HA!" she yelped, scrambling to her feet and chasing the furry ghost. A tuft of grey and white fur stuck off a prickle and led into the Hood's maze. It wasn't much of a maze, really. It was just an emergency oxygen production room with all sorts of fruits and vegetables and flowers and things. It was for rest and relaxation.. and apparently suited one rabbit's appetite. If she were a small vegetarian, she'd certainly have planned a break for here, anyway. The computer had insisted no one had entered or exited her quarters since she and Serixs had left, so somehow Mark had managed to leave on his own. She'd have to program the computer to not let the little chip bearer out. Most humanoids implanted locater beacons into their offspring and pets. Some humanoids made a big production about coming to physical maturity and being allowed to have it removed. Jynea had kept her's until she'd entered the Academy and it became a supposed security risk. She'd had NO problems with the authorities being able to find her. She didn't want to become lost, no matter how lush or beautiful Terra was! Pushing aside leaves, Jynea shuddered to think what the knees of her uniform was going to be like. Her palms were already encrusted with loam and dirt. Her deligence was rewarded with the sight of a wriggling nose. She scurried forward and had him within reach when he turned tail and ran down a different path. Jynea lurched forward, lost her balance and landed face first, sprawled half on the path, half in the bushes. At least there was no one around to see her chasing a rabbit! She rolled over and dusted herself off and looked around. Neither head nor tail of the furry miscreant. This could take all night! "Ensign Kreung, please prepare for transport to the USS Spectre in one point five hours." A voice announced from her communicator. Jynea exercised a vast knowledge of Orion profanity before clicking her communicator to tell the Hood's communication officer the message was received. She paused. Was there such a thing as a communications officer? Or was it the on duty Ops officer who dealt with that sort of thing? Either way, she was short on time, had made a mess of her uniform and had quarters to clean up before she could leave. "Computer, emergency site to site transport of non-sentient dependant Mark to Ensign Kreung's guest quarters. Energy charge to Ensign Kreung's account." Nothing like starting out on a new ship with a credit debt, but better than being late and muddy! [Transport request recorded.] Jynea waited with her head tilted to one side, looking up at the ceiling expectantly. She wasn't quite sure why she looked up, it wasn't like the computer was above her, but it just seemed the place to look. [Transport initalized. Transport completed.] The computer finally reported. Jynea didn't want to know what the Hood's engineering staff made of it. One problem down, a bunch more to go, Jynea didn't QUITE jog back to her quarters to have a quick bath and uniform change. (Reply None) (Posted by Jynea Kreung) (USS Spectre - Bridge - Captain T'Vhor - 21:00) "That should do it sir, if it fries now we'll have to wait until we dock at a Starbase", said the Technician as he pushed up the hatch at the bottom of the console & locked it into place. "I think it will be fine though", he added wryly. "Excellent", said the Captain, "let's hope that your assessment of the situation is a reasonably accurate one", he added as he turned about from the science console & returned to the centre chair. "Has there been anymore communication from the Gorn vessel?", said the Captain addressing the communications officer. "None sir, other than their earlier transmission that they have left Romulan space & have returned to their previous course heading", said the comms officer. "The Hood has informed us that they have now moved to coordinates twenty two by nine five one & are ready to receive us & any.....er...hangers on", he added screwing his face up slightly. "Hangers on Lieutenant?", said the Captain quizzically, the euphemism of course being just a tad lost to his Vulcan bluntness. "Anything that might enter Federation space with us sir", said the Lieutenant correcting himself. The CO raised an eyebrow in typical Vulcan fashion, then he returned his attention to the viewscreen & the Warbird still hanging there ominously but motionless upon it. "Inform the DihVael that our warp engines are back online & that we have warp restrictions in place", said the Captain, "our maximum sustainable warp is now warp five", he added. NRPG: Michael, I've timestamped this post so as to allow enough time for any intervention by H'Chir in regards getting the warp engines back online. RPG: "Aye sir, transmitting the information now", said the Lieutenant. "Helm, plot a course to the Hoods updated position & calculate an ETA", said the Captain addressing Rodriguez. "Course plotted & laid in sir, ETA is one hour fifty five minutes at warp five", said Rodriguez. "Pass that information onto the Hood via subspace link", said the Captain turning his attention thence towards the communications officer, who nodded duly & then carried out the order. "Bridge to Engineering", said T'Vhor, "prepare to initiate warp drive....." (Reply Engineering, IYW) "Helm, initiate warp one on my mark", said the Captain as he raised a hand as a visual readiness cue to the helmsman. "Mark", said the Captain & the Spectre swung smoothly about through one hundred & eighty degrees & then leapt to warp in a stretched blur of blue light, followed very closely of course by the Warbird. "Warp one is stable sir", said the helmsman, "ready to engage warp two" "Incremental warp to warp five at your leisure Lieutenant Rodriguez", said the Captain as he settled back into his chair justifiably relieved now that they were finally getting out of there. "Warp two is stable sir, no problems detected....going to warp three.....", said the helm as the ship shook slightly in response to the temporary modifications to their warp drive before then returning to a more even & smooth flow of power. ".....warp four......warp five", said the helmsman as he eased the ship from one speed to another so as not to stress the warp drive unnecessarily. The last thing they needed now of course was an engineer shouting abuse up at them in regards something having just gone bang! In a few moments however, they were cruising comfortably at warp five with the Warbird in close escort immediately to their port aft aspect. Captain T'Vhor then stood & moved off, turning towards the turbolift as he did so. "You have the bridge Mr Rogers, I have something I need to attend to", said the Captain as he temporarily relinquished command to his First Officer & left the bridge. (Reply, Engineering, Rogers, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (JG) Serixs Ssarumon - 21:01) Serixs had spent the majority of the last hour going through all of the belongings he had stowed in the Cargo bay. Most of it was nothing too odd or out of the ordinary. A crate of artwork and personal belongings for him to decorate his quarters with as well as all of his awards and commendations from his time in the Gorn Navy. Then there were the projects he was still tasked with working on. One in particular caught the interest of an inquisitive crewman. It looked like a large piece of brown and green technology, but Ssarumon had to deflect questioning on that one as it was still considered Classified and required a secure environment before he could work on it at any length. He had locked it back into its secure crate and put it with the rest of the bits of Gorn tech he brought with him. After making an inventory and ensuring everything was intact, Serixs returned to his quarters. Shortly after, he got the announcement on his Comm to be ready to transport to the Spectre in an hour and a half. Getting his quarters ready for his departure would not be difficult. He had not been occupying them for long enough to change anything. He gathered up his hand-carry items. Among them was a Gorn data core to give to the Spectre's Engineer to ensure that the most up to date information was available to the Federation. He kept it, the isolinear data rod carrying his Medical Records, and a PADD carrying his orders and additional information for his CO all in a nondescript grey case. Beside this case, he kept his Engineer's Toolkit. He knew the Spectre would be needing repairs and despite being a science officer, he was still a competent Engineer and could assist in the repair process. Quietly, the large Gorn sat himself behind his desk. He took a few moments, just to enjoy the quiet warmth of his quarters. The rest of the vessel was so cold and dry that it was nearly uncomfortable. He would adapt to it, of course, but he still needed to get away from it from time to time to bask in both the heat and humidity of his natural environment. "Computer," Serixs began, tapping the white key on his small desk terminal, "Initiate personal log." He commanded. [Personal log recording.] The computer responded to him. Serixs allowed the silence to linger for a moment, gathering his thoughts before he began. "Assistant Chief Science Officer's personal log, Stardate 2407.02.05," Serixs began. "Ensign Serixs Ssarumon reporting currently awaiting transfer to the USS Spectre from the USS Hood." For a moment, Serixs let the silence linger once again, considering what he wanted to say before he spoke. When he finally did speak again, he did so in his native language despite the discomfort he got from it. It had been years since he had his larynx and palate surgically altered to make it easier to vocalize the Federation languages, but it was at the cost of making it much more difficult to vocalize his own. He put the discomfort aside and continued in his hissing dialect. "Today I had chance to meet my new Commanding Officer face to face via a communication between the Hood and the Spectre still on assignment. I must say that I am impressed. From what I could tell, he carries himself with the same confidence that is common amongst Vulcans, which is one of the few other races in the Quadrant that the Gorn can easily agree with. My understanding is that he is also half Betazoid. If that is the case, I shall have to guard my thinking carefully around him so as not to cause him any discomfort from inadvertent reading of a mind that is, I would imagine, very far removed from what he is used to reading. All in all, I am looking forward to this assignment. I suspect that I will be quite busy in the coming days getting accustomed to the USS Spectre's science department, but I relish the challenge." Serixs took a deep breath before continuing. Now was the part to admit his mistakes. "I regret to say, though, that tonight something occurred that does not put me in a good situation. My replicator had been tampered with, which as I understand is not uncommon considering the Enlisted men's desire to haze new officers. However my reaction was far below my standard of behavior. Where I should have simply reprogrammed my replicator and let that be it, I sought out vengeance and unkindly involved another member of my new crew. I cannot help but remember what I was told by the counselling staff at Stafleet Academy. Jokes are supposed to be in good fun, not to cause distress. It would seem that the combination of exhaustion and uneasiness at the Spectre's current situation led to a setback of the three years of work the counsellors at Starfleet Academy did with me. I shall have to ensure that there are no further setbacks. With that being said, I did make a potential ally in seeing this experiment succeed. A one Ensign Jynea Kreung who is a counsellor on the Spectre. Most surprising is that she is an Orion, a race we typically have been harsh enemies with for over a century due to pirating. She is quite atypical of the Orions I have had experience with and merits further study. She has agreed to assist me as the Counsellors at Starfleet Academy did and I shall release my records of those sessions to her so she has a basis to begin from. We shall see how things pan out." "Concerning my poor behavior, I have already submitted a report to the Captain of the Hood and absolved Counsellor Kreung of responsibility in this matter. In closing, I think that this may work, but I will need to move forward with care. The Federation is wildly different from what any Gorn would be accustomed to. My experiences as an Enlisted crewman in the Gorn navy will not be as useful as I originally believed, but with patience, I do believe I can succeed where others could not." With a quiet nod of his head, Serixs went through what he had just said into the terminal. "End log," Serixs commanded. "Encrypt and transmit a copy of this log to Gorn Ambassador Za'Kuul." [Transmitting log.] the computer responded. Once complete, Serixs closed down the Terminal and moved over to the large bed. "Computer," He began. "Initiate alarm to wake me the moment the Spectre reaches the coordinates of the Hood." [Alarm set] the computer responded quickly. A little nap would help the large Gorn. He had not slept since leaving the Academy and all of the events of today left him worn out. Quickly, he took offr the overtunic and undershirt of his uniform, then sprawled himself out on the bed. He snorted a moment, though. Federation beds don't generate heat. He mentally noted that it was something he would have to remedy when he arrived on the Spectre. (reply any, none) (Posted by Don Jones) (USS Hood - Guest Quarters - Ensign (j.g.) Serixs Ssarumon - 21:05) Serixs snapped awake from his sleep. Ever since he laid down, his reptilian mind had been racing with things he could be doing, and it made his attempt at getting any amount of rest fruitless. He checked the time and growled deeply to himself. Less than five minutes ago he laid his head down and now he was wide awake again. No rest for the weary, especially not when his crew was in danger on a vessel that had been through sheer hell. Groggily, he stumbled to his feet and made his way to the desk. He had an idea to pass the time at least, but he would need information first. "Computer!" Serixs snarled at his terminal. "Display the Technical Specifications for the Spectre Class." It took the computer a moment to respond, displaying the image of the Spectre Class vessel, though with portions blacked out. He imagined those were classified systems that he would not be able to see, but what he did have was enough. He rubbed his tired eyes and narrowed them slightly, studying the vessel for a moment before continuing. "Are there records for what on the USS Spectre has been damaged?" [Negative. That information is unavailable.] The response from the computer did not give Serixs much help, but perhaps there was a way. He just hoped the Federation computer system was smart enough to handle it. "Do we still have current sensor data on the condition of the USS Spectre?" he asked next, getting an idea together. [Affirmative,] the computer responded again. "Good." Serixs said out loud. "Based upon the known sensor data of the USS Spectre cross referenced with the Spectre Class technical specifications, can you determine the probability for what systems on the Spectre are damaged?" [To within 80% accuracy,] the computer responded once more. "Do so," Serixs commanded. "Compile a list of potentially damaged systems and probability of damage based upon known sensor data." The list took a moment to compile and he saw all of what the computer's best guess was concerning components within the Spectre that had suffered in the attacks. Unfortunately, the list was huge, but it seemed most of it was outside of critical systems. "Filter this list." Serixs commanded next. "Focus only on those items on this list related to Warp Drive, Weapons, Shields, and Structural Integrity." The list shrunk to something much more manageable, which gave him a basis to work from, but he was going to need help to pull this off. "Download this list to my PADD," he said just as he was getting to his feet and making his way for the door. He saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and he was going to take it. (Reply None) (Posted by Donald Jones) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - President Rondar Nell - 21:05) Nell, through long years of training, managed not to freak out the second time he woke up. His eyes opened slowly and he took in his surroundings... kinda. It was hard to make himself care about much of anything, he felt drugged out. ~So, I'm going to die.~ he thought. Then that thought went away, he didn't much care about it anymore. "Oh, just be done with it." He said, before closing his eyes again to wait. (reply: any who wish too) (posted by Trout) (USS Spectre - Bridge - CMO - Williams - 21:05) Andrew entered the bridge, it was busy which was not unexpected due to the battle they had just been in. As he approached the captains chair he noticed that Rogers was beside him. ~I did not return him to duty. Must speak to them when I get back~ He walked up to Rogers and waited for an appropriate moment to speak. “I’m sorry to bother you Mr Rogers is the captain about. I have the the casualty report.” (reply Rogers) “I regret to inform you that the Marine pilot who was with you has passed away. Our other injuries were minor.” (reply Rogers) “One has just come out of major surgery the others are being treated for minor injuries. I don’t foresee them needing to stay in sickbay for much longer.” (reply Rogers) (Reply, Rogers, any) (Posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Nurse Douwsy - 21:07) "Oh, just be done with it." Douwsy paused for a moment. She had been asked to monitor the presidents vitals. She looked at the member of the security detail who was standing by the door. Then took the seat next to Nell. "Be done with what Mr President?" She asked softly and quietly as so not to appear threatening in any way. (reply Nell) (reply Nell, any) (posted by Robbie) (USS Spectre - Deck 15 - Stellar Cartography - Captain T'Vhor - 21:07) The sound of his footfalls hitting the metal grill of the walkway echoed through the room as the Captain entered it. This place had never ceased to leave him without a sense of awe for it was as though he were standing high above a vast void, filled with an endless carpet of stars. Stellar Cartography was like that of course, it's huge transparent dome laid out below with it's central command console set at a point, roughly midway between the aforementioned walkways that seemingly suspending it in a perfect observational vantage point. Since the entire known universe could be displayed in graphical form against the transparency surrounding it, one could be forgiven for feeling an illusion of godlike grandeur in this place, it truly was like walking amongst the stars. This however was not the current reason for the Captain's presence here. Walking towards the Central console & initializing it to life, Captain T'Vhor activated the universal overlay to display a visual representation of known space, then he began instructing the computer to enhance individual areas one by one. "Computer, display visual representation of the Spectre's position & place it at point of origin", said the Captain & the images rotated smoothly about him whilst zooming in to place the Spectre at a fixed reference point immediately ahead of him. "Update positional coordinates of the 52nd fleet operational elements", said the Captain. [Certain elements of the 52nd fleet command structure are currently unavailable at this time] "Display known elements & extrapolate approximate locations of the USS Paladin, USS Nimitz & USS Steel Talons according to their last known coordinates & headings", said the Captain. [Calculating known & approximate positions in accordance with assigned variables] The display then began updating all around him showing the locations of the desired vessels, except for that of the 52nd fleet flagship. The Captain turned about & took note of the points plotted, then he returned his attention to the console once more. "What is the last known position of the Steel Talons?", said the Captain. [The information is currently classified to 52nd fleet command eyes only] "Override classified, T'Vhor Alpha two nine, Epsilon Alpha one", said the Captain. [Unable to comply with request, command codes are not accepted] The Vulcan hybrid furrowed his brow slightly at the Computers negative announcement, then he quickly returned his attention to the console once more. "Overlay... Strategic placements of the 52nd fleet, point of reference USS Spectre", said the Captain. [Complying] The starmap then updated again & rotated about the Captain's position in the room to show the placements of the entire 52nd fleet along with it's subsidiary allies. "Computer, display coordinates...point of origin last communication, USS Steel Talons", said the Captain. [Coordinates are unavailable] "Extrapolate to known variables, access all communications logs", said the Captain. [Approximate coordinates given time & distance variables overlaid with current communications logs are currently displayed] The Captain then looked around for the flashing reference point now indicated by the computer. It was there of course but it didn't make sense at all! "Computer, recalculate last fix....update as necessary", said the Captain. [No change is noted, reference point is accurate to within alloted parameters] The CO shook his head slightly, then he returned his gaze to the fixed coordinates being displayed. It still didn't make sense, the coordinates were way off the expected positions, if Vulcan's could ever lose their calm then the Captain would be doing so right now, as it was however his ever present reliance upon logic & it's place in rational thought overrode such instincts. There was only one thing for it now, the President himself would need to be queried as a matter of urgency, compos mentes or otherwise... With this in mind, Captain T'Vhor turned about & then exited Stellar Cartography with sickbay now foremost in his mind. (Reply Any, None) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Hood - Crew Lounge - Ensign (j.g.) Serixs Ssarumon - 21:10) Serixs entered the crew lounge once more and saw just who he was looking for. The computer was kind enough to point out the individual's location. Seems he and his friends were enjoying a late night before sleep. The individual in question had his back turned to the large Gorn as he approached, but the other three at the table had quickly taken notice. "Petty Officer Ryan," Serixs said to the human he had frightened earlier in the evening. Ryan turned around, nearly spilling himself out of his chair in the process, but Serixs held up his hand to tell the younger human to relax. "I wish to apologize to you for my earlier behavior." Serixs said. "It was quite inappropriate." There was a moment of dead awkward silence as the four enlisted men looked at the Gorn officer in astonishment. He could not tell if it was because they had never seen an officer apologize to them before, or if they've just never seen a Gorn apologize for anything before. "Well..." Ryan said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Apology accepted sir." He added. "It was a good prank." He said. "Me and the guys were talking about it earlier and wondered how you did it. We got a few people that could use a joke like that." Serixs smiled a wry smile, showing his sharpened teeth. "Very well then, Petty officer," Serixs said. "I will teach you how I altered your holodeck program if you and your friends will assist me in fabricating some components." Serixs handed the human his list. Ryan took it and started talking with his coworkers on it. They discussed positively amongst themselves for a time before Ryan turned to look at the large Gorn once more. "How much time before you need this stuff?" Ryan asked him. "Less than one-point-five hours." Serixs responded. "These are parts for a Spectre Class, aren't they?" One of the other humans at the table said. "Indeed." Serixs said. "The Spectre is damaged. To what extent I am unsure, but I suspect they have either exhausted their own supply of spares or are otherwise unable to use them. Nor do they have the power to fabricate the parts they need in the field to bring the vessel to full operational capacity." "Ok." Ryan said. "We can do this, but it's going to be a serious power draw." He scrolled through the list. "Not to mention that you'll have to get at least the First Officer's approval before fabricating any weapon systems." Ryan handed the list back to Serixs just as the Gorn tapped his communicator. "Ensign Ssarumon to Lieutenant Commander Harris," Serixs said, raising the FO on his comm. =/\=Harris here, Ensign. Go ahead.=/\= The male voice on the other end of the comm, the First Officer, sounded just a bit haggard. Could be that the Hood was at alert and expecting trouble when the Spectre arrived. Whether that was the case or not, Serixs had to focus on his task. "Sir, I am transmitting a parts list to your station." Serixs said, keying the transfer into his PADD. "These are spare parts for the USS Spectre based upon what is most likely damaged in her critical systems. I would like to make use of the Hood's Industrial Replication shop to fabricate these parts." =/\=I got it, Ensign.=/\= The FO said to him. There was a bit of silence, as he suspected Harris was going through the list. =/\=Do you think the Spectre will need all of these parts?=/\= "I do not know, sir." Serixs said to him. "However it is better to have too many spares than not enough. What is not immediately used will be used later. That I am confident of." =/\=Alright, I'll approve the power transfer and note the usage to Captain Teleko.=/\= Harris said on the comm. =/\=And Ensign, there is a high chance we will need that power. If we do, we're going to have to shut you down.=/\= "Understood, sir." Serixs responded. =/\=Do you have help?=/\= Harris asked him. =/\=This is a big list and there is little time to get it all done.=/\= "I do, sir." Serixs said to him. "Four off-duty Engineering crewmen have agreed to assist." =/\=Alright.=/\=Harris said to him, opening his approval to fabricate weapon system parts. =/\=I'll tap the crew for volunteers and see if I can get you some more hands.=/\= "Thank you, sir." Serixs said to him. =/\=Keep me posted, Ensign. I'll let Captain T'Vhor know to expect spare parts availability as soon as I can. Harris out.=/\= Ryan was first to pipe up after the Commander was finished. "Ok, guys," Ryan said, "Let's get to work." "Petty Officer Ryan." Serixs said. "You and I will focus on the warp system included warp coils for the Spectre's necelles." He then looked at the other two. "I want you two on the Quantum Torpedo system. Fabricate as much of it as you can. If time permits, start on phaser and shield emitters. Keep an inventory of everything we make. The Spectre's engineers will need that information to know what is where." "What about the others that show up?" one of the three asked. "We will task them according to where we are at the time." Serixs responded. "To keep the power draw low, we may have to fabricate some of the more complex components in pieces and assemble them by hand." "I'll get the tech docs together." another said. "Good." Serixs said. "Let us get to it." (Reply None) (Posted by Donald Jones) (USS Hood - Industrial Replication Shop - Ensign (j.g.) Serixs Ssarumon - 21:15) The four entered the large room that housed rows of Industrial Replicators. Much to the astonishment of the Gorn, there were already at least a dozen people here and already at work on his list. It seems the First Officer had done just as he said he would and gotten more volunteers from the Hood's crew. Serixs nodded his head, then got behind one of the large machines. There was still much to do, and little time to do it all in, but with help it could get done and the Spectre would be able to conduct more of her repairs in route instead of laying up in a drydock like an injured animal. (reply Any,None) (Posted by Don Jones) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - Captain T'Vhor & Lieutenant Commander Phillip Tovardi - 21:17) There was still a certain amount of 'hubub' going on in the sickbay when the Captain walked intently through the Caduceus marked doors denoting the Doctor's domain. At this moment in time of course, he was completely unaware as to wether or not the President was cognitive or still deep within the land of Morpheus, but either way he was going to get answers now as to the location of the 52nd fleet flagship. His ship & crew had been tasked with the man's recovery & also his delivery & yet the Talons eluded them now due to a simple matter of command heirarchy. They had risked much & now it was time for answers. Tovardi of course, having now returned to his masters side was one of the first to rise & take note of the Captain's entry into his private quarters, he was also the first to attempt to deny the Captain's logic on the matter as he questioned the President on command codes & such. "You come in here demanding immediate answers of a sick man Captain, the President's safety is paramount here, this crew is, & always has been expendable!", said the Lieutenant Commander acerbically. That sentiment would have caused any other Captain to leap for a throat & rip it from it's bearer, but then not all Captain's were of Vulcan heritage of course. The Spectre's CO fell silent only for the briefest of moments, then he spoke to make his thoughts on the matter VERY clear. "My ship, & my crew are NOT expendable under ANY circumstances Lieutenant commander", said the Captain as forcibly as was possible of a Vulcan, "I question your logic in placing one man above an entire crew", he added, "may I remind you that every single member of my crew volunteered for this mission knowing full well the stakes involved", he added as he moved slowly around the side of the Presidents bed. "My orders are to return the President to Admiral LoDona aboard the Steel Talons, if you hinder those orders by standing in my way then I will have you confined to the brig", he added. Tovardi's face of course flushed red at what he now saw as a hostile retort from the Spectre's commanding officer & in direct response to this, he reached across to make a grab for the Captain's tunic, taking hold of the material forcibly in his hand as he did so. For all of the bodyguards training however he had never once encountered the Vulcan martial art Wehk Pukan, a fact which was to quickly prove to be his undoing. The grab had been countered before he had even realized it & in a second he found himself unceremoniously facing the wall, his face pressed up against it with the Vulcan's fingers perfectly placed at the base of his trapezius muscle. The Captain simply tilted his head slightly as he looked into the Lieutenant commanders eyes, his own eyes narrowing slightly in cool deliberation. "I would not recommend that you resist at this moment Lieutenant commander", said the Captain in clear, unemotional overtones, "it would not be wise" Tovardi simply froze, in his capacity as Nell's most senior bodyguard, he certainly was not used to being in a position of relenting to another, but when one was posed with the reality of an impending Vulcan nerve pinch, he knew enough to know that it was wise not to push any further & with reluctance, he acceded to the Captain's directive. "I wouldn't try that again", said Tovardi as he rubbed at his neck & brushed himself down before facing the Captain off. "Ask your questions, do not stress the President in doing so", he added. "A logical answer Lieutenant commander", said the Captain, "and also a wise one" he added as he then leaned towards Nell in order to continue with his 'humble' request for further information.... (Reply Nell, Any) (Posted by Alan Reading) (USS Spectre - Sickbay - CMO - Williams - 21:23) Andrew had finally tracked down the Captain and was slightly irritated with himself when he saw that he was in sickbay. ~I should have just stayed where I was~ "Where is the Captain?" He asked Douwsy as he entered. "With the President...." "Thanks." Andrew nodded and headed for the isolation room. As he entered he felt the tension in the room. ~What's going on here~ He glanced over at the presidents vitals. ~Good not that~ "A logical answer Lieutenant commander", "and also a wise one" He saw the look from the president's bodyguard. ~Must have been a confrontation~ He saw the Captain move closer to the president. He was going to interrupt but decided not to so he moved into one corner where he could see the president and the monitors clearly. (reply any) (posted by Robbie) =======================================================================