Compile#37 October 25-31 (USS Rosenante & USS Boudicca Joint) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mission: Once More Into the Breach Day 5 Stardate: Age of Makto Compile Summary (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - Science Officer Ensign JG Joseph Willowbrook - Day 5 - 1227) (USS Rosenante, Isolation Lab - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 5 - 1546) (USS Rosenante - Isolation Lab - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 5 - 1609) (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - PO - Med Tech- Carmen Santiago - Day 5 - 1954) (USS Rosenante - Sicbay - Operating Room 3 - PO - Med Tech- Carmen Santiago - Day 5 - 1956) (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - Day 5 - 2301) (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - Operating Room 2 - Trauma Surgeon - Ensign (Dr) V'Nara Oren - 2333) (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - Day 5 - 2345) ======================================================= Mission: Once More Into the Breach Day 6 Stardate: Age of Makto Compile Summary (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 6 - 0108) (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - 0110) (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - Lieutenant jg Sanok - 0111) (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma - 0112) (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - 0115) (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma - 0116) (USS Rosenante, Transporter room 1, Lieutenant jg Sanok, 0117) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 6 - 0122) (USS Boudicca- Bridge- LT Chance Raschen- 0125) (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - 0126) (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma - 0127) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 6 - 0139) ======================================================= Mission: Once More Into the Breach Day 6 Stardate: Cretaceous Period Compile Summary (USS Rosenante, Bridge, CO Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid, Day 6, 0140) (USS Rosenante - Bridge - Science Officer Ensign JG Joseph Willowbrook - Day 6 - 0142) (USS Rosenante, Transporter Room 1, CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma, 0145) (USS Rosenante, Tkon Sphere, Lieutenant jg Sanok, 0146) (USS Rosenante, Transporter Room 1, Lieutenant jg Sanok, 0147) (Tkon Sphere, Central Corridor, CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma, 0148) (USS Rosenante, Transporter Room 1, CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma, 0149) (USS Boudicca - Deflector Control - Ensign(jg) Henry Jacobs - 0150) (Tkon Sphere, Central Corridor, CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma, 0151) (USS Rosenante - Bridge - FO - Commander T'Larah Sullivan - 0152) (Tkon Sphere, Lieutenant jg Sanok, 0153) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 6 - 0153.5) (USS Boudicca, Deflector Control - ACSO Ensign Isra Caliel - 0154) (USS Boudicca- Bridge- LT Chance Raschen- 0155) (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - Day 6 - 0156) (Tkon Sphere - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - Day6 - 0157) (USS Boudicca, Deflector Control - ACSO Ensign Isra Caliel - Day 6, 0200) (USS Boudicca - Bridge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 0205) (USS Boudicca - Deflector Control - ACEO Ensign(jg) Henry Jacobs - 0207) (USS Boudicca, Deflector Control - ACSO Ensign Isra Caliel - Day 6, 0210) (USS Boudicca Bridge Lieutenant Tom Jackson 2nd officer/COPS Day 6 0215) (USS Boudicca Bridge Lieutenant Tom Jackson 2nd Officer / COPS Day 6 0220) (USS Boudicca Bridge Lieutenant Tom Jackson 2nd Officer/COPS Day 6 0225) (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - Operating Room 2 - Trauma Surgeon - Ensign (Dr) V'Nara Oren - 1521) (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - Operating Room 2 - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - 1525) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - Science Officer Ensign JG Joseph Willowbrook - Day 5 - 1227) "How are Andrew Maddox and the Captain? Are they both okay?" Joseph asked. "The Captain is fine, as for Maddox I was going to send a tech to the Brig to check on him. With the sheer volume of patients that have come in, he has a rather low priority, him being stable and all." she said. "Plus it's only a confinement physical." He nodded, glad that it was only a physical and that his friend was stable. "Can I talk to him?" "You would have to ask the Captain for permission to talk to Maddox." she said. "Do you need anything else?" she asked. He realized that she was probably busy with other patients with more dire needs. He shook his head. "Well let us know if you need anything else." she said and went back to the break room. (reply none) (Posted by Morgan G) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Isolation Lab - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 5 - 1546) =^= Matrix to Caskie. I've managed to isolate the frequencies used by the Borg. I'm sending the analysis to your station shortly. We should be able to replicate a delivery system via any of the replicators available in that lab. =^= Josh crossed to the nearest console and began reading the data. Nodding her head and tapping her comm badge she replied. "Good work Mr Matrix, at least this can be used as a short range weapon as and when needed. Keep me updated please. Caskie out." (Reply Matrix iyw) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Isolation Lab - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 5 - 1609) =^= Matrix to Caskie. We've started the power source replication for our first prototype...about 25 minutes before we have a working power source to start testing. =^= Josh simply nodded. "Understood Mr Matrix keep me posted please and bring it here first for testing." =^= Right Commander. We'll get it built and bring it up to the biolab for testing before we try deploying. =^= Nodding her head again Josh tapped her comm badge. "Understood Mr Matrix. Caskie out." (No reply needed) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - PO - Med Tech- Carmen Santiago - Day 5 - 1954) Carmen was having a quiet five minutes in a corner or Sickbay. She could not leave because they were far too busy. She didn't want to even go to the replicator because someome would notice her there and demand her help and to be honest she was all helped out. She needed at least ten minutes alone with herself to simply recharge her batteries otherwise she would be running on empty and that would do nobody any good. Unfortunately her 'down' time wasn't as down as she thought once Dr Oren spied her hiding in the corner and offered her something to do. "Santiago, you want in on this surgery? I got a team back, but I could always use another set of hands." she offered. Smiling and nodding Carmen got to her feet and followed Oren into the operating room. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Sicbay - Operating Room 3 - PO - Med Tech- Carmen Santiago - Day 5 - 1956) "Petty Officer Santiago to the left of the table please next to the medical transporter." Carmen obliged the doctor still trying to watch what all the rest of the team did since they were more used to this than she was and she was eager to learn. One organ at a time Dr Oren ordered Carmen to transport and Carmen followed her orders dilligently. Unfortunately their patient began to take a turn for the worse. A great deal of work and sweat ensued, and not only from the medical staff and eventually Carmen felt as if a bus had hit her and was only too glad to hear Dr Oren ask for the tissue replicator since that meant that hopefully they were on the last legs of fixing their patient. Carmen brought the replicator over to where Dr Oren asked and began to program it for tissue samples. All the while waiting for the go from Dr Oren. (Reply Oren) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - Day 5 - 2301) Eian was brought out of the darkness again, only this time he was faced with a blinding white light, and the odd sensation of being completely unable to move and feel. The feeling brought him right back to his time after assimilation, when the Borg blinded him, took away his ability to speak, hear, and feel, and left him a floating consciousness inside a shell of a body. As he performed the same repetitive task, his overactive mind was driven nearly insane. That was how Volus had convinced him that he was a God. That was how he had been robbed of his individuality. He began to panic at these thoughts that came rushing into his mind. The onslaught of dark and evil insight was like an assault on his soul, and he wanted to cry out, but remembered that he still could not speak. In his time as a test subject after the explosion, he had the opportunity to deeply consider his situation and process all the damage that was done. He had lost his arm and eye and his ability to speak. The Borg had taken his natural ear bones and replaced them with processing units that made normal sound waves sound filtered. They had taken his ability to breathe and smell, although he felt like he had now regained those abilities. All in all, the Borg had taken his body from him, and he felt utterly trapped. "He's coming around now. Brain waves returning to normal." reported someone nearby. "Mister O'Neill, do not be alarmed, you are in surgery now. I have placed a restriction field to hold you so that your movement does not inadvertently cause you harm. We are nearly done, but one of the last things we need to verify is if your brain can function now with out the Nanites inhabiting your body." someone told him. ~She must think I can speak,~ he thought, and he figured he might as well try. "My..." he started, and surprised himself with his own voice. It sounded hoarse, but it was definitely his. A smile touched his lips. "Now Mister O'Neill, tell me how do you feel?" she asked. Eian felt funny. He could barely feel his body, and he merely felt pressure below his chin. He was no longer floating, but his ADHD was kicking in and he was beginning to feel that restless, nearly panicking feeling inside his head that told him he had to move. "Like...like I want to get out of here," he stated. "I can't move." V'Nara removed the force field off of his hands and only his hands. "Mister O'Neill, can you move the fingers in your right hand for me?" His right hand? He wished he could look down. He thought it was gone. It *was* gone. Now it was back, only it felt different. It didn't feel like *his* right hand. But when he commanded the nerves to move, they obeyed. "Good, now the left?" she asked. He easily moved the fingers in his left hand, and looked up at the doctor. "Now don't be alarmed but, we can't afford to put you under again, so the remaining portions we will have to with you semi concious." Eian's expression went from curious to petrified. Flashes of memory from his assimilation inserted themselves into his mind, and he momentarily felt, saw, and heard the moments when the Borg were cutting and sawing at his body as he lay helpless under metal restraints. "Please...I don't want to go through that pain again," he managed to say. "No we will use local anesthesia, so you won't feel any pain, but you may feel pressure and pulling." she explained. "You won't remember any of it anyway." He frowned. "Why not?" "Because we have you on a special type of anesthesia that doesn't allow your short term memory to fall into your long term, and we will be building your legs from your knees down. It is going to take some work and time. It's very labor intensive. Are you ready?" she said. Rebuilding his legs? He didn't remember them even being taken. But the cacophony of pain that overwhelmed him during the assimilation, they could have retrofitted the bottom halves of his legs with Borg implants, armor, and servos that were now obsolete. They had probably removed the Borg parts, which left him with stumps. The thought was disturbing, and Eian half wanted his neck to be released from the restraints so he could see, and half didn't want to see until they were done being repaired. Regardless of what they still had to do, they had to get started. Eian would have nodded if he could have. "I'm ready," he said, his voice sounding less sure than he wanted it to. "We'll be here talking to you every step of the way, if you'd like." "Yeah," he said immediately. "I would like that." "Good, then lets begin shall we? Bring the tissue replicator over here," she said pointing to one side, " and the osteo segments over here." she said pointing to the other. His mind was going a million kilometers per second and he hadn't had a stimulant in over a day. He couldn't move, but he could speak, hear, and see. He knew he couldn't get through hours like this. So he asked, hating how weak he sounded, "Can you give me my stimulant medication, please?" (reply Oren) (posted by Morgan G) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - Operating Room 2 - Trauma Surgeon - Ensign (Dr) V'Nara Oren - 2333) "Can you give me my stimulant medication, please?" O'Neill asked weakly. "Down load his file to this station." she ordered. First she found out which medication he was talking about. (Reply O'Neill) NRPG: I'm thinking with his ADD in full gear, he would probably be still talking up the Surgeon whilst she was looking at his file. As O'Neill talked up a storm, V'Nara began looking through his medication profile, she organized them into generic functions because he didn't give a medication name, but he had said 'his stimulant'. She found the one he was referring to. "You mean this one?" she said and pointed to a display he could see with out moving his head, it displayed the medication for him, in friendly block letters, orange on a black screen. Followed by what it was prescribed for, who prescribed it, and it's common side effects. (Reply O'Neill) "OK, let me check for adverse drug reactions first." she said and ran that medication through the medications she had in a database that she commonly and uncommonly used in surgeries. "No critical interactions," she said to everyone, "...however," she looked at the anesthetist, "it does make the anesthesia we have him on last a little longer." Now she looked at O'Neill, "it may make you a little drowsy, you still OK with me giving you your load dose?" (Reply O'Neill) "You heard the man, 30mg, push it over two minutes, and watch his reaction, I don't want him going under if I can help it." she stated. (Reply O'Neill) "Get the osteo-replicator ready, lets start working on his new legs and connecting it to his existing legs." she said. (Reply Santiago) She had seen his first name in his chart and decided to use that to build patient rapport, "If you don't know Eian, the Borg had replaced your lower legs with mechanical ones, probably had armor on them and lots of nasty gadgets. I have no idea what they do, I'm a doctor, not a robotics engineer, all I know is that they were damned heavy." she said with a smirk. (reply Eian) "Now we took them away when we did the emergency portion of your series of surgeries, they didn't work to well anyway with out the nanites to maintain them, which by the way we took those out too." she explained. "What we are going to do now is set up a very rudimentary set of organic replacement legs for you. Our first step is to build your skeletal system back to what it was. We are going to replicate what we need, mostly for this stage we will be working with bones and the ligaments that hold them together." (Reply Eian) "That's a good question, it seems your medication is working. I'm going to drill a series of holes in each of the bones at the points that the ligaments are supposed to be anchored in, then I'll place a length of ligament and we will use a bone fuser to cement it into place. Ready?" she explained in a calm voice laying it all out on the table. (Reply Eian) "Good lets begin the first stage." she announced and looked to Santiago, "Lets place the femurs down first, we'll use the transporter, then next have the patella ready, because it's next. The knee is going to be complicated but we've got nothing but time." she said. (Reply Eian, Santiago, room for more) (Posted by Todd) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - Day 5 - 2345) "Down load his file to this station." the doctor ordered. Eian's mind was beginning to speed up, and the acceleration factor was very high. As the anesthetic continued to wear off and his system returned to its normal cognizance, his mind raced and he began feeling the unfortunately familiar effects of untreated ADHD in full swing. ~Her uniform is really clean. That's probably because she went through a sonic field before coming in here. I could sure use a sonic shower. I wish I was back in my quarters. I wonder if they're still intact?~ "When do you think I can get out of here?" ~I wonder who else is here? Anyone I know? I hope no one I know is seriously injured.~ "Do you know the status of the rest of the crew?" ~That was a stupid question. There are obviously too many people to count.~ "More specifically Sanok, Ben Soma, Steve Matrix, Cohen from Engineering..." ~She's probably not listening. She's trying to concentrate.~ "Have you found it yet?" ~I wish I could move. I need to move. I need to move *anything*...I just need to get out of here.~ "I've never been claustrophobic before but I'm pretty uncomfortable if I can't move. I mean, Jeffries tubes are cramped but I can at least move around a bit in them. It's never been too big of a problem but occasionally I need to just leave the Jeffries Tube for a few minutes when doing an engineering repair, like repairing the engines...especially Junction 3b on the engineering deck, that's the most cramped. It's got five conduits in one small space about ten meters by ten meters but the conduits are all coming in from the middle so it's less than a meter wide on either side....maybe I should think about wider spaces or I'll *make* myself claustrophobic. Like the beach, or a mountain to snowboard on, or a hockey arena...I do miss hockey. Do you think I'll still be able to play hockey? Some of my hockey gear was destroyed in our first mission, and I had to replicate new gear. I'll probably have to do that again. I mean, most of crew quarters was destroyed, right?" He asked sadly. "But things can be replaced. It's not difficult to replicate a helmet. And I'm sure we'll all be getting a raise if we make it out of here," he chuckled. "Affording it won't be a problem. What's your favorite sport, doctor?" "You mean this one?" she asked, and pointed to a display he could see with out moving his head, it displayed the medication for him, in friendly block letters, orange on a black screen. Followed by what it was prescribed for, who prescribed it, and it's common side effects. "That's it," Eian answered in the affirmative, and was about to elaborate but the doctor cut in. "OK, let me check for adverse drug reactions first." There was a pause, and Eian thought, ~She probably thinks I'm crazy at this point. I am going crazy. I need that medication...~ "No critical interactions," she said to everyone, "...however," she looked at the anesthetist, "it does make the anesthesia we have him on last a little longer." Now she looked at O'Neill, "it may make you a little drowsy, you still OK with me giving you your load dose?" "Don't you think drowsiness isn't necessarily a bad thing?" He asked rhetorically, and then continued, "Please. I'll take the drowsiness...just make my head stop spinning." "You heard the man, 30mg, push it over two minutes, and watch his reaction, I don't want him going under if I can help it." she stated. Eian felt the effects after a moment. It was as if someone had just taken some excess energy from him and channeled it into the correct places in his mind. Whereas he had a random burst here and there before, he now had focus. He was in surgery. His questions should be about surgery. Other thoughts still occurred, and his mind was still creatively going a million kilometers a second, but his impulsive questions and interactions with others, and even the impulsive way in which his mind was naturally organized, was suddenly dampered and re-organized in a more sensible way. "Get the osteo-replicator ready, lets start working on his new legs and connecting it to his existing legs." the doctor said. Ever the engineer, Eian tried to be dispassionate about what was happening to him and ask some of the questions that were on his mind. "How did the previous legs work?" She had seen his first name in his chart and decided to use that to build patient rapport, "If you don't know Eian, the Borg had replaced your lower legs with mechanical ones, probably had armor on them and lots of nasty gadgets. I have no idea what they do, I'm a doctor, not a robotics engineer, all I know is that they were damned heavy." she said with a smirk. "That would most likely be the shielding and armor plating. The Borg use similar outer plating that we do on shuttles," Eian stated. "Now we took them away when we did the emergency portion of your series of surgeries, they didn't work to well anyway with out the nanites to maintain them, which by the way we took those out too." she explained. "What we are going to do now is set up a very rudimentary set of organic replacement legs for you. Our first step is to build your skeletal system back to what it was. We are going to replicate what we need, mostly for this stage we will be working with bones and the ligaments that hold them together." As he listened to her explanation, he realized that this was probably relatively new. Previously, they would have just been replaced with bio-prosthetics. Now it seemed the doctor was actually constructing new biological legs for him. "How do you plan to attach the ligaments and cartilage without causing tearing at the attachment points?" He knew some of the biological components to the human body were incredibly small. "That's a good question, it seems your medication is working. I'm going to drill a series of holes in each of the bones at the points that the ligaments are supposed to be anchored in, then I'll place a length of ligament and we will use a bone fuser to cement it into place. Ready?" she explained in a calm voice laying it all out on the table. "Yes, definitely," Eian said, and was interested in how this would work. He knew he would probably emotionally analyze the situation later. Thankfully, that portion of his brain was not working in full gear. He was just going to observe and continue to disconnect himself from the situation, analyzing it carefully like an engineer. He was forever thankful for the ADHD medication. "Good lets begin the first stage." she announced and looked to the nurse, "Lets place the femurs down first, we'll use the transporter, then next have the patella ready, because it's next. The knee is going to be complicated but we've got nothing but time." she said. The surgery commenced. (reply any) (posted by Morgan G) ======================================================= (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 6 - 0108) Josh had barely sat down before someone began to talk to her. "Sir, you have an incoming message from the Rosenante. It's Captain Salid. Josh dipped her head once. "On screen please." A few seconds later Salid appeared and began speaking. =/\= Commander, once the countermeasure is deployed, we will undock and assault the Tkon sphere. Currently we need to accelerate both ships to full impulse, have your helmsman standby for instruction for this maneuver from Lieutenant Dralar. once we disengage, your orders are to destroy the Tkon sphere. it must not escape nor complete whatever mission it is undertaking. Am I clear? =/\= Josh nodded her head again, but realising that Captain Salid could not necessarily follow her movement spoke out loud. "Crystal Sir. I will not allow the Borg to escape us." =/\= Currently our sensors are showing that the sphere has a very powerful shielding system, but that it's weapons are equivalent in power to our phasers. She has enough bite to cause us some injury, so proceed carefully. =/\= Nodding her head again at him Josh smiled. "Understood Sir." =/\= If our attacks appear to be ineffective, I am hoping that we can figure out a way to pass a small security team into the sphere with the intention of destroying it from the inside. I have three officers standing by for just such a mission. =/\= Josh smiled. "I wish them luck. However should they fail the Boudicca will not Sir. " "Good luck commander." Salid signed off and Josh turned to her staff. "You all heard the Captain. Helm, co-ordinate with the Rose. As for the rest of you, you all heard our orders they are to destroy the T'kon Sphere. Helm, plot as secondary course for a collision with the Sphere to impact them with maximum damage and lay it into the helm so that it only needs someone to initiate it to work. The rest of you need to come up with a way that allows us not to go that way. I suggest you start thinking now." (Reply all on the Bridge) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - 0110) Soma had a look in his eyes has she spoke with both voices. But she waited until he finished issuing orders and took his place on the pad. They followed stepping unto the pad. "Don't worry Sirs I ensure you the Captain knows about my unique situation, in fact she might be the reason I'm being sent on this mission. You and Sanok undoubtedly make a fine combat team, you have been together long enough to predict each others moves and know each others weaknesses. She... " Jessica spoke in reference of second voice, the vice of Lily. "Is my other half, has we share your thought we form a union that is hard to overcome and I'm sure that by the time this is done we will need her expertise and knowledge." She was glad that they had similar ideals on how to handle the sphere once inside. Cause has much damage has quickly has possible and maybe get lucky enough to destroy something important before they all die. =/\= Mister Soma, I have just been informed by Engineering that we can only beam one person across at a time. As soon as we can Mister Dawson there in the transporter room will commence transport in whatever order you decide upon. Stand by to transport at the first available opportunity.=/\= She glanced to the LT. "Whats the order sir, I'll go first if need. Since I'm the smallest and lightest it would be less stress on the teleporters that way." (reply Soma) She became quite after that in the end it was the officers in charge of the team that made the choice it was a hard on to make there was numerous possibilities to weigh and take into account. If Soma or Sanok took the lead on teleporting to the sphere, maybe they could take toll and access the tactical situation but it was also likely that if one of them lead, with all the equipment they brought that the telepoters might overload and leave the man stranded. Lily and Jessica both hoped he though about that. (reply Soma, Sanok iyw) (Posted by Matthew Locke) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - Lieutenant jg Sanok - 0111) Sanok listened while Signos gave her report on her injuries. She was in bad shape right now. Because of the accumulation of wounds she had suffered throughout the Borg campaign, he felt she would be a liability now. It did not matter that she had some sort of sleeper personality implanted into her. Physically, she was a mess and should not be there. Of course, at this point, with so many killed, wounded, or assimilated, they needed everyone they could get, even the walking wounded. There was also a short discussion on Volus and what could be expected from him. Sanok noted everything, but it was time to go. It was time to finish this. Equipment was checked and the three officers stepped onto the transporter, standing in a formation where they were back-to-back. Of course, they received a call that only one could be transported at a time. Signos volunteered to go first. "I am the strongest and the most resilient," said Sanok. "I should go first." He was not bragging or being arrogant. It was simply a logical statement of fact. (reply Soma, Signos) (Posted by Bob B.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma - 0112) Signos tried to explain her unique situation though it did little to convince Ben she was in any condition to be here, she had admitted to being injured to such an extent that she may not be of any use in a fight. She said the Captain was aware of her other persona but he himself was in the dark which didn't help her case as far as he was concerned, she could turn out to be a liability that he and Sanok would have to pay for. =/\= Mister Soma, I have just been informed by Engineering that we can only beam one person across at a time. As soon as we can Mister Dawson there in the transporter room will commence transport in whatever order you decide upon. Stand by to transport at the first available opportunity.=/\= "Understood." He replied. That complicated matters, one by one they would have to transport over into the unknown. Who ever went first would be on their own until another transported over. Of course that started a mini debate. "Whats the order sir, I'll go first if need. Since I'm the smallest and lightest it would be less stress on the teleporters that way." The two voices of Jessica's said. "I am the strongest and the most resilient," said Sanok. "I should go first." This wasn't what he needed at the moment. Jessica was indeed the smallest and Sanok was indeed the strongest, both were right in their respective arguments. In the end it was Ben's call and he wasn't about to send Signos over alone in her condition, nor did he want his friend in the same situation. Things were much easier when he was an Ensign and all he had to do was follow orders, now he was in the position where he had to make the call and issue those orders himself. "You both make valid points." Ben stated in an even tone. "Ensign I will not transport you over alone in your condition, you may be there several minutes before either myself or Sanok can be transported, your chances of holding off an attack is the lowest out of us all. Normally I would pull rank and transport over first but Sanok is right, he has a greater chance of holding out alone until someone else transports over." Ben didn't like the call himself but he had to give the mission the greatest chance of success he could, Sanok had the stamina and strength to hold out the longest. Ben knew his friend could handle himself in a fight, he was level headed and would weight every variable and not make hasty decisions. "Sanok will transport first, followed by myself and then you. Should we run into trouble we should be able to clear it up before you arrive." With that he stepped off the transport pad and waited for Signos to step down as well, he just hoped that the Borg would not realize what was going on untill they all transported over. If they did he just sentenced his friend to death and he didn't think he could live with that after everything else that had happened. (reply Signos, Sanok) (posted by Milo Young) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - 0115) Even though they understood the reason behind the order, did not mean that Jessica and Lily had to like it. From the Surface of Dovek II, to the Halls of the Rosenante, to stand before Volus himself. Jessica and Lily had fought, bleed, and had beaten the odds. No one understood what she... they were capable of, How could they? It seemed that the men had started to view her has she had been seen all her life. Has a young petite woman that needed to be protected, and had no place on the battlefield. Even with out her injuries Jessica and Lily felt that Soma and Sanok would still have viewed her the same way. Has Jessica and Lily stepped from the teleporter pad there was a unspoken but noticeable change in her demeanor. There was a coldness about her, a darkness in her eyes. She moved to stand next to Soma, and await her turn to beam over to sphere and end this. "Sir if I might be so bold." They spoke in even tones only she and Soma could hear. "Every person that I have cared about that has treated me in a manner that I could not hold my own, treated me has I was someone that needed to be protected, or that I was some fragile thing that would will break easily. Has died." She looked toward Soma. "Don't you and Sanok make the same error. I am here for a reason, let me fight and if need be die has I see fit." She let him ponder what she said, and waited her turn to teleport over to the sphere. (reply Soma, Sanok.) (posted By Matthew Locke) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma - 0116) As Jessica stepped off the pad Ben couldn't help but notice a change in her demeanor, it was quite clear she didn't agree with his decision to send Sanok first and her last. As she came to stand beside him she said. "Sir if I might be so bold." Both voices spoke in harmony. "Every person that I have cared about that has treated me in a manner that I could not hold my own, treated me has I was someone that needed to be protected, or that I was some fragile thing that would will break easily. Has died." She looked toward Soma. "Don't you and Sanok make the same error. I am here for a reason, let me fight and if need be die has I see fit." Whether she intended to or not she was beginning to tax Ben's already strained patience. "The reason you are here is to follow orders Ensign, we will all fight and die if required." Ben stated keeping his tone even. "By your own admission you are injured, Sanok is uninjured and stands the best chance of holding out alone as I have said before. My decision stands and is not up for debate. I have seen what you can do, you will get your chance to fight it'll just come a little later." "I don't know what happened to you after the explosion, something has changed in you. That change leaves me with a few questions, one of the most prominent being are you truly fit to be on this away team. You may be a liability, I need to know that you won't jeopardize the mission. Are you in full control of your faculties, you speak with two voices which causes me to wonder why." Ben said. "Care to explain why?" (reply Signos, Sanok) (posted by Milo Young) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Transporter room 1, Lieutenant jg Sanok, 0117) Sanok watched Ben consider what he and Signos had said about being sent first to the Tkon sphere. He knew it was a very difficult decision Ben had to make. Who should he send first to possibly die? He actually expected Ben to choose himself. When Ben chose Sanok, it had been unexpected. As Ben was stepping down from the transporter pad, Sanok could see the pained expression on Ben's face. "Do not fret," said Sanok. "It was the logical decision." While waiting for the order to go, Sanok watched Signos lean close to Ben and speak in a lowered tone. His Vulcan hearing did not pick up everything she said, but based on what he did hear, and based on what Ben said to her afterwards, it was clear Signos not not happy with the decision Ben had made. In fact, to Sanok, it appeared as though Signos was pouting like a child. As dangerous as this task was, Sanok and Ben did not need someone with them that was more concerned about herself and what she wanted to do, than what was best for the team, the mission, and the ship. If Signos could not discipline herself, the mission just got more dangerous. (reply Soma, Signos) (posted by Bob B.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 6 - 0122) Josh watched as Raschen simply leant against a wall at the back of the Bridge waiting. She smiled to herself but tried to hide it from him. She knew Raschen, as well as he would let anyone know him she imaged and if Josh were honest she would trust him with her life, as long as she thought he was on the same side as her. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he crossed to Tom and offered to take his position so that Tom could sit in the FO's chair. She could also see that Tom appreciated the offer and probably wanted to take it up, but he hesitated. "Chance, we'd better see what the boss wants" ~Time to stop this now, before it goes any further. But definitely not time to go overboard.~ Josh thought. Turning in her chair she smiled at both of them. "Thank you for the offer Mr Raschen but Mr Jackson is precisely where I want him to be. If you would be so good as to take Tactical, Mr Trei is already waiting to help with Security. Orders will be coming through from Captain Salid on the Rose soon and I want us to be in a position where we are immediately ready to follow them." (Reply Jackson, Raschen) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca- Bridge- LT Chance Raschen- 0125) As Tom waited for the reports to come in; Raschen walked up to him "Tom, I can do the COps job, go take your spot as the First Officer. You earned it." "Chance, we'd better see what the boss wants" Jackson replied. Chance just smiled at his friend. "Commander Caskie; LT Raschen request permission to properly relieve LT Jackson at operations." "Thank you for the offer Mr Raschen but Mr Jackson is precisely where I want him to be. If you would be so good as to take Tactical, Mr Trei is already waiting to help with Security. Orders will be coming through from Captain Salid on the Rose soon and I want us to be in a position where we are immediately ready to follow them." "Roger that, Commander." Raschen acknowledged as he moved over to the tactical station. He started pushing buttons and flipping switches in an attempt to get, not only the Boudicca's tactical readouts, but a copy of the Rosenante's tactical sensor readings. The console started to light up as it responded to commands and then just as quickly the console went dark. "Son-of-a...damn Borg could screw up a wet dream." Chance rhetorically stated as he walked around to the other side of the console and suddenly kicked it as hard as he could. Then the console came back to life and amazingly worked (relatively) without further incident. (Reply any iyw) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - 0126) "I don't know what happened to you after the explosion, something has changed in you. That change leaves me with a few questions, one of the most prominent being are you truly fit to be on this away team. You may be a liability, I need to know that you won't jeopardize the mission. Are you in full control of your faculties, you speak with two voices which causes me to wonder why." Ben said. "Care to explain why?" His voice cut her has badly has any knife. ~ Have We been pushing ourselves to hard.~ The thought flashed though their mind. They her head shook has Lily retreated and Jessica assumed the dominate personality. The lavender eyes shifted to brilliant blue that Jessica was known for. "I'm sorry sir." Jessica spoke this time it was her soft calming voice alone none other. "I did intent for what as said to come across has me questioning orders. That's something I... We will not do. It's just it has happened many times in my life that I am judged by appearance other than skill. Your right something did happen after the explosion, and you have every right to have questions. I am in control of my faculties. Has for the second voice I wish I could tell you, everything. However, I'm under orders, from Captain Salid not to speak of her to anyone. I hope you can understand that. What I can tell you is that the other voice has been with me for about the last ten years. She was there on Dovek II, She was there on Station 989, and She was there when I can after you earlier. It would seem the explosion has caused or two personalities to merge. I have had to come to terms with a great many of things that I rather would not want to know about myself. But I will stand behind you and Lt. Sanok, has we fight till we come back home." (reply Soma) It wasn't long after that the go order was given. She watched Sanok on the pad She did not need to see the face or the man next to her to know he was worried for his friend. It was a difficult choice, but in the end it was the right one. If for no other reason other than that's was the team leaders choice. "Clear the way, Sir." She spoke to Sanok with a slight smile. "And well be right behind you." An instant later he was gone, then it was Soma's turn. Again she watched him step upon the pad. "Give them Hell." (reply Soma, Sanok iyw) (posted by Matthew Locke) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma - 0127) "I'm sorry sir." Jessica spoke this time with only a single voice, hers. "I did intent for what as said to come across has me questioning orders. That's something I... We will not do. It's just it has happened many times in my life that I am judged by appearance other than skill. Your right something did happen after the explosion, and you have every right to have questions. I am in control of my faculties. Has for the second voice I wish I could tell you, everything. However, I'm under orders, from Captain Salid not to speak of her to anyone. I hope you can understand that. What I can tell you is that the other voice has been with me for about the last ten years. She was there on Dovek II, She was there on Station 989, and She was there when I can after you earlier. It would seem the explosion has caused or two personalities to merge. I have had to come to terms with a great many of things that I rather would not want to know about myself. But I will stand behind you and Lt. Sanok, has we fight till we come back home." Under orders from Captain Salid not to speak of her to anyone, Ben couldn't help but wonder who Jessica was refering to. Ten years this other persona cohabitated with Jessica, and she had been aware of the other presence all this time. The explosion merged both personalities into one, forced the other to surface. At least she did offer some kind of explanation. It didn't ease his misgivings much but at least he knew to some extent what was going on with her. "I understand." Ben replied. "As long as I know your in control." Ben took a breath and added. "I wasn't judging you by your appearance, I know your highly skilled. I was concerned about your condition, sending you over alone would have been a bad idea." Ben hoped that she understood and one day be in a position to know what it was like to make such a decision. It was up to him to give the mission the best possible chance of success. He wasn't playing favorites, but making sound logical decisions that would give them the best chance he could. (reply Signos iyw) (posted by Milo Young) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 6 - 0139) =/\= Ensign Jacobs to Commander Caskie =/\= This was the call that Josh had been waiting for. The once call that might or might not make a difference to the outcome of the upcoming battle so Josh wasted no time answering it. "Caskie here Ensign. Are you and our package aboard.?" =/\= Yes ma'am, myself and Ensigns Romanoff and Caliel have arrived to Deflector Control. We are already making the modifications to the deflector dish. They will be complete in 14 minutes. =/\= Josh smiled to herself and answered. "Very well Mr Jacobs, carry on and keep me updated." (No reply needed, covered by another post) (Posted by Marilyn) ======================================================= (USS Rosenante, Bridge, CO Captain Ahmed Ibn Salid, Day 6, 0140) This was it; the moment that was about to decide the future of everything that Ahmed stood for. The moment in which he and the the two ships under his command would test their dedication to their ideals. Where they would decide the fate of the Federation, and by change the entire quadrant. It was such a grave situation that Ahmed didn't even hesitate when Sullivan had reported to the bridge. He had told her to take the tactical station, the only place on the bridge where she belonged as much as she did in the First officer's chair. Willowbrook had recovered enough to man the science station, but the rest of Ahmed's command staff were wither in the transporter room, or serving as fill in officers for the injured and missing Boudicca crew. With captain Durand out of the loop, Caskie had drawn the dubious honor of commanding that fine vessel and Ahmed had no misconceptions, If needed, one of both of the federation ships would sacrifice themselves to prevent the borg from converting all of mankind into mindless automatons. He'd lost crew; friends and colleagues. They'd fought and bled, but the worst of it was over. Caliel, Jacobs, Carter and Matrix had really come through with their solution to the problem. Already reports were flooding into the bridge operations center, reporting that all the Borg on the ship were inert and neutralized. Ahmed somehow doubted however that the same could be said for the small remaining contingent of Borg aboard the Tkon sphere. He glanced down at the cracked display in the arm of his command chair, watching as the latest data scrolled across the fractured screen. "Disengage the Docking clamps and set the Boudicca free. Then do your best to coordinate your attacks." Ahmed ordered. It was a moment too late. The Tkon sphere slid out of the opening to the temporal well that it had opened. And like before, Volus had fired upon the two ship's chasing the Sphere. This time however Sullivan was as ready as she could be. The vulcan had anticipated the repeat of tactics, and the angry blue-white beam slammed into the Rosenante's forward shields and then traced and angry arc across her bow and slid across the shields belonging to the Boudicca. The ship rocked, but remained steadfast in her pursuit. It was almost a re-enactment of the battle for the Mars Defense Perimeter, except this time it was Ahmed and not Rivers in command. There was so much damage already that Ahmed couldn't tell how long they might have, and he couldn't even tell if Matrix could even know the extent of the ship's condition. "Mister Sullivan, weapons free. destroy that sphere." (reply Sullivan) He didn't have to repeat himself as the vulcan woman started her assault, which was followed up by the concentrated weapons fire from the Boudicca. The Tkon sphere was powerfully shielded, and the weakened state of the Federation starships own systems were hardly having any affect upon the vessel. "Mister Willowbrook. I need you to see if you can find me a frequency that we can use to get a transporter beam through." He commanded. (reply Willowbrook) Ahmed tapped his commbadge, "Salid to Matrix, I'm showing some significant fluctuations in the forward shield array. I need you to stabilize it if at all possible. I know your short manned Chief, but I can't lose those shields." (reply Matrix) As if to punctuate his words three powerful phased energy blasts slammed into the Rosenante. one of the few remaining operational consoles at the rear of the compartment suddenly exploded in a shower of sparks, smoke and polyresin. The isolated fire suppression system kicked in within moments, choking out the flames before they could do any additional damage. "Mister Dralar, shift up our attack pattern. Free helm." He ordered. "Aye Captain, Free helm!" The Rosenante rolled along her long-axis, as Tkon phaser fire sliced into her belly. The blasts would have struck her final functional nacelle without the maneuver. Another burst of fire bore through the ventral shields and the entire ship shook as an air filled compartment was suddenly exposed to the vacuum of space. The captain watched as both the Federation ships pounded the sphere with any ordinance they had available. It became apparent that the Sphere was regenerating it's shields faster than the two Federation ships could deal damage. Ahmed suddenly realized where they were. Ahead on the view screen, rapidly approaching was a familiar Orange gas giant. The King of the Gods, Mighty Jupiter stood silent vigil over the domain of the Sol system. "When are we?" Ahmed asked. "Astrometrics has confirmation Captain. It appears that we have traveled through time and space to the Sol System. sixty-five million years in the past. This is a period known as the Cretaceous. Dinosaurs are currently the dominate life form on your world. "Xim reported. "sixty-five million years?" Ahmed asked rhetorically. "How long until the sphere reaches earth?" he asked suddenly understanding the diabolical nature of the plan. Seed nanoprobes onto the planet and have them wait until mankind arises and assimilate them. There will be no Federation and no human civilization as history recorded it. "35 minutes, at current speed captain." Dralar reported. The captain nodded, then turned to the only science officer on the bridge. "Mister Willowbrook? I need something. I have to get a team on that ship, our weapons are not working. Give me something to work with." He ordered, "I don't care how thin." (reply Willowbrook) Ahmed looked at the man for a moment, even as the ship shook from another blow from the Tkon vessel. Then when he declared his slim possibility, the captain immediately jumped upon the chance that it offered. He palmed his commbadge. "Salid to Dawson." =^= Dawson here captain.=^= the transporter operator replied. "We're sending you some data. Adjust your linear field dynamics to match and commence immediate transport." Ahmed nodded at Willowbrook. (reply Willowbrook) =^= I have it Captain.=^= Dawson replied. "Proceed when ready." Salid ordered. Then he tapped his commbadge. "Salid to away team." (reply Soma, Sanok, Signos) "You're not going to have much time. You have less than twenty minutes to either destroy that sphere from the inside out or to take down her shields. I'd prefer that you all make it back here in one piece, but i can not take any chance of this sphere reaching Earth. I'm counting on you." (reply Soma, Sanok, Signos, Willowbrook, Sullivan, Matrix) Daniel Greene --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Bridge - Science Officer Ensign JG Joseph Willowbrook - Day 6 - 0142) He had been released from Sickbay conditionally, with strict instructions not to physically exert himself. But he had also been ordered to report to the bridge, and he knew that if he, a communications officer who normally did research, was summoned to the bridge, they must need him very badly. They were extremely short on people, and he knew he was one of the few who had made it through this mission without major injury. He had caught sight of the ship's ACEO under a stasis field and the gore had almost made him empty his stomach contents for the fourth time in two days. There were plenty more in Sickbay who were severely injured, and Joseph was happy when he was released, so he didn't have to be around them anymore. He was a scientist, not a trauma surgeon. When he arrived on the bridge, things started happening quickly. He took his place at the science console and watched in horror as the Tkon Sphere slipped out of the temporal well and then the Borg started firing on them. The Rosenante shook under the fire, but they returned fire with a vengeance. Willowbrook clung to his console, his knuckles white. The Captain spoke directly to him. "Mister Willowbrook. I need you to see if you can find me a frequency that we can use to get a transporter beam through." He commanded. It took him a moment to realize what the Captain was asking, in all the confusion. "Y-yes, Sir," he stuttered, and started looking at the readings, furiously scanning to find a frequency that would match their codes. His mind was not working at its usual pace. The environment around him made him nervous, and he couldn't rid himself of the panicking thoughts, ~What if I screw up? What if we all die because I screwed up?~ He tried to entrench himself in the numbers so that he could concentrate. 15.5:72 matched with 20.3:78, but all they had was 20.3:73...that one had too high of a kW reading attached to it...that one had too high of a frequency to ever convert... He thought he heard someone say they were 65 million years in the past, but thought surely he must have misheard that statement. Then he looked at his own readings, and realized it was true. A knot grew in the pit of his stomach, and he forced himself to keep concentrating. Before he knew it, the Captain was demanding, "Mister Willowbrook? I need something. I have to get a team on that ship, our weapons are not working. Give me something to work with." He ordered, "I don't care how thin." ~If you give me more time...~ he thought, frustrated, but what came out of his mouth instead was, "Um...uh..." he paused, gathered his thoughts, and then said, "If we convert our beam to the 20.3 range we could boost power to the induction coils and then transfer all power to one spot on the pad, which would allow us to use the 78 reading in the linear field that would bring us into the correct frequency range to match their shields. I mean, it's got about a, uh, um, ah, a 25% chance of working, and..." He said it quickly, and the Captain seemed to stare at him for a moment. Then he interrupted, "Salid to Dawson." =^= Dawson here captain.=^= the transporter operator replied. "We're sending you some data. Adjust your linear field dynamics to match and commence immediate transport." Ahmed nodded at Willowbrook. Willowbrook stared for a second, dumbfounded, and then nodded back. All he could think was, ~Now I just hope it works...~ He would never forgive himself if the away team was killed because of his idea. (reply any there) (posted by Morgan G) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Transporter Room 1, CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma, 0145) Ben was waiting for the go ahead to transport to the sphere and get the mission to stop the Borg started. There was still some tension in the air but it wasn't as bad as it had been half an hour ago. He was running through various techniques to prepare himself for the coming fight, he couldn't meditate as that would require complete relaxation and that wasn't possible for several reasons. The the Captains voice broke the silence. =/\=Salid to away team.=/\= ~Finally, time to get this show on the road and stop the Borg for good.~ "Soma here," Ben responded. =/\=You're not going to have much time. You have less than twenty minutes to either destroy that sphere from the inside out or to take down her shields. I'd prefer that you all make it back here in one piece, but i can not take any chance of this sphere reaching Earth. I'm counting on you.=/\= Less then twenty minutes to destroy the sphere, that's going to be pushing it a little. They'd have to cause some kind of overload in the engines. His initial plan wouldn't work now, not enough time. If he set all the charges in the engineering section that might do the trick if they could get deep enough into the sphere. "Understood Captain." Ben said. "We'll do what we can, you do you have to." There it was, the pressure was on. Either the Borg were attempting to open another vortex or they had succeeded in doing so and were at their destination. They were going to assimilate humanity and prevent the formation of the Federation, they had to be stopped and if that meant he had to die to acheive that goal then so be it. He'd die knowing that he had gotten his revenge on the Borg, or at least in part. Turning to Sanok and Signos he said. "Looks like this is it, we have to stop the Borg at any cost. We have to destroy the sphere or take out it's shields, we need to target critical systems. Engineering will be our objective, destroy the engines and what ever else we can from there." (reply Sanok, Signos) (posted by Milo Young) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Tkon Sphere, Lieutenant jg Sanok, 0146) Sanok rematerialized in a corridor on the sphere. It oddly appeared similar to a typical corridor on the Rosenante, though the metal seemed to be more bright. It was well-kit, the air was clean and fresh, and no one was in sight. Sanok stood in place and listened intently for a few moments. There was a faint hum that was more a background vibration, but other than that, he was the only one there. Not long after arriving, there was the sound of a transporter behind him. When Ben appeared a little ways down the corridor, he looked around quickly, then moved to stand with Sanok. "Have you detected the Borg in the immediate vicinity?" said Ben. "Not in this area, no," said Sanok. "Because of time constraints, and because we do not know where anything is, we may be forced to split up once Ensign Signos arrives." This was not wise, but they may not have any other choice. He knew it would be yet another difficult decision for his friend. (reply Soma) (posted by Bob B.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Transporter Room 1, Lieutenant jg Sanok, 0147) Sanok, still standing on the transporter pad, waiting for the order to go, listened as the captain finally sent the word. =/\=You're not going to have much time. You have less than twenty minutes to either destroy that sphere from the inside out, or to take down her shields. I'd prefer that you all make it back here in one piece, but I can not take any chance of this sphere reaching Earth. I'm counting on you.=/\= It was as Sanok expected. Ultimately, going by the big picture, he and the others were expendable. Stopping the Borg was what mattered, and every one of them, as well as both ships, were to be sacrificed if that's what it took. "Understood, Captain," said Ben. "We'll do what we can. You do you have to." Again, Sanok saw the pained expression on his friend's face. "Looks like this is it," said Ben. "We have to stop the Borg at any cost. We have to destroy the sphere or take out its shields. We need to target critical systems. Engineering will be our objective. Destroy the engines and whatever else we can from there." Because the Tkon technology was so much more advanced than their own, Sanok wondered if they would even be able to recognize any of those systems. He also wondered how easily they could be destroyed. Of course, recognizing and destroying was contingent on the Borg. Nodding in encouragement to Ben, Sanok felt the transporter beam surround him. The last thing he saw on the Rosenante, was the concerned expression on his friend's face. (reply Soma, Signos iyw) (posted by Bob B.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tkon Sphere, Central Corridor, CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma, 0148) "Not in this area, no," said Sanok. "Because of time constraints, and because we do not know where anything is, we may be forced to split up once Ensign Signos arrives." Ben also considered that just as his friend mentioned it. He wasn't fond of the idea but they had little time to search, they didn't know the layout and had no idea what was where. "That may be our only option, we have to cause as much damage as we can in a very short time." Ben replied. "We'll split up and destroy what ever looks important, with some luck we will get lucky and take out the shields or blow the engines. With the engines disabled it'll by us some time and give the Rosenante and the Boudicca a chance to take the sphere out for good." Then he heard the familiar wine of the transporter and turned to see Jessica rematerialized in the corridor behind them. "Signos Here." She said as she came to join them. "Sirs," She spoke calmly. "We got Borg 212 meters out and closing." She scanned other near by area's before adding "On multiple vectors." "Looks like it's time to get the party started then." Ben said. "Sirs if I may, the center of the sphere, this vessel was not intended to be a weapon and the center of the sphere is the heaviest armored, along with giving it the shorts possible distance to all area's of the ship. This both makes sense for a tactical command post such has a bridge or the engineering core. Either way something important will more than likely be found there." Signos stated. Ben considered what she had said, it made sense. So far it was as good a plan as any. If the bridge was in the center they could take out navigation and disable the ship from there. If engineering was in the center they could do the same. "What are your orders?" She asked. "We'll head towards the center of the sphere and split up from there. Look for anything that might be related to navigation, engines or shields. Destroy anything that looks important for good measure. The Borg are gonna catch on quick so be on guard, this is their last stand are are not going down without a fight and neither are we." He said. "Let's get moving." With that Ben lead the way into the sphere, he was confident the drones hadn't spotted them so for now they were safe. The corridor curved slightly which would keep them out of sight for now, behind but distant he could hear the drones steady foot falls as they patrolled the sphere. Soon they came to an intersection where two corridors crossed. He signaled Sanok and Signos to head off to the sides while he continued forward, hoping that one of them would find anything that would cripple or destroy the sphere. After a couple minutes he entered a circular room. It had consoles lining the walls and several displays with readings that he couldn't decipher. Off to the right side a single drone was monitoring a display with some interest, he hadn't noticed Ben's arrival. Quietly but quickly he crept up behind the drone and reached for the bundle of cables an hoses at the base of it's skull. The drone wasn't expecting an attack because Ben's hand didn't strike any shield, he couldn't help but smile as he grabbed the bundle and tore it free of the drones skull and watched as it hit the floor in spasms. It jerked several times before finally dying, it's limbs fell to the floor as it's laser went dark. Ben looked at the monitor that it was watching, a steady stream of symbols. He didn't know what it was but if this drone had been assigned to watch it that meant it held some importance. Ben removed a charge from his belt and knelt beside the dead drone, reaching under the console the placed the charge and activated it. For good measure he placed several more around the room, if anything here controlled the shields or the engines he didn't want to have to back track to do the same thing over. He activated the charges and left the room, once at a safe distance he would detonate them. When he figured he was far enough away he pulled out the control unit and activated it. He placed his thumb on the trigger and hoped something in that room was worth blowing up. He pressed the button as the far end of the corridor lit up and he felt as well as heard the explosion. The corridor continued to shake as power conduits overloaded and blew. What little there was in lighting began flickering, fading more and more each time. Ben smiled to himself, looks like they could blow things up after all. Off in the distance he could here minor explosions as other conduits overloaded, he wondered how long the chain reaction would continue and just what damage he had caused. He continued moving in search of something else to blow up. (reply Sanok, Signos, Any) (posted by Milo Young) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante, Transporter Room 1, CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma, 0149) Sanok nodded clearly wanting to show encouragement for the plan, Ben knew his friend was thinking something else just the same. Saying and doing were two completely different matters. Would they know what the engineering section looked like, how would they know what to blow up, was it possible to blow anything up. The T'Kon were an advanced race, who knows what materials they used in the construction of the sphere. What little he had in the way of ordinance may not be enough but they had to try. Ben returned the nod knowing Sanok knew what he was thinking. Then his friend disappeared from the plat form, the time had come. "Clear the way, Sir." Signos said just before Sanok faded. Ben moved to take his friends place on the pad. "Give them Hell." Signos said. "I intend to." Ben replied. He felt the familiar paralysis of the transporter beam grip him, as he watched the transporter room fade from his view he wondered just what was waiting for them. What would they find over there? It was a shame they didn't have enough time to send a team over to investigate the sphere before they had to destroy it. He rematerialized in a corridor and once he was free from the transporter beam he drew a phaser and looked around he saw Sanok a little further down the corridor and moved to stand beside him. "Have you detected the Borg in the immediate vacinity?" (reply Sanok, Signos) (posted by Milo Young) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Deflector Control - Ensign(jg) Henry Jacobs - 0150) Ensign Jacobs knew he was going to need some additional hands once he took in the entirety of the two-story layout of the deflector control room. He tapped his commbadge to contact engineering. "Jacobs to engineering, I am gonna need engineering team 4 to report to the deflector control room and lend me some assistance." "Aye Sir, " someone responded. Jacobs noticed it wasn't Ensign Gesar and this made him realize that he had not seen Ensign Gesar since leaving for the away mission on Dovek II. ~I wonder what hes doing.~ "Ensign Caliel, if you would make your way to the second floor you will find the deflector targeting console. From here I will send to feedback code and sequence in which it need s to be distributed. " (reply Caliel) Ensign Jacobs began to give orders to Ensign Romanoff when Captain Salid chirped in. =^= Salid to deflector team, where are we on getting the code deployed?=^= "Sir, " Henry responded, " the targeting sequence is being initiated now, 90 seconds before the deflector is properly powered. May I remind you again sir, this is most likely going to blow the deflector out, but it will get the job done." =^= Understood, initiate it as soon as possible, Salid out=^= As Jacobs was talking the engineering team walked in and awaited their assignment. Pointing to two of the men Jacobs ordered them to assist Ensign Romanoff with rerouting power from internal gravity controls and all replicators. "You heard the Captain lets get this done now!" Henry walked to a console and shouted out to Ensign Caliel looking up in her direction. "Ready? Transfering coded sequence now." (reply Caliel) "Mr. Romanoff I need to know when the dish is charged." Romanoff nods as he begins to speak, "We are at 100% all power has been rerouted from replicators and we are standing by to initiate." The auditory ambiance of the room changed as a high pitched hum echoed in. "Ensign Jacobs to Commander Caskie, deflector is charged and we are initiating the code now." (reply Caskie) Simultaneously Jacobs raised his arm and pointed at Nickolas to initiate. Running his hands across the controls in front of him Nickolas carried out the order and the dispersal code had begun filtering throughout the walls of both ships and beyond to the drones on the planet and sphere. (reply Caliel, Caskie, any) (posted by Darryl McDaniel) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tkon Sphere, Central Corridor, CTAC/SEC Lt. jg Ben Soma, 0151) After blowing up the room Ben expected to be over run with a Borg patrol, but no drones appeared. He wondered just what he had blown up, was it something important? The fact that a drone was monitoring the room led him to believe it was, but after blowing it and encountering no resistance he began having doubts. Was it possible the drone was a decoy? Had the Borg made the room look important to keep them from finding something that was. He wanted to believe that he had done some damage to the sphere's systems but he couldn't be sure. He began heading back the way he had come, something didn't seem right. He should have encountered some drones by now but the corridor ahead of him was still clear. They didn't have much time so he couldn't afford to second guess himself, several of their twenty minutes had passed already. He was nearing a bend in the corridor and moved to hug the wall. Glancing around the bend he saw several drones ahead of him, they hadn't spotted him yet but they were advancing on his position. Maybe he had caused some damage after all. He turned back once again staying ahead of the drones. He found himself in the room he had left previously, consoles that once contained various strings of symbols were now dark and others were completely destroyed. The drone he had killed was nowhere to be seen, also destroyed in the explosion. He crossed the room and found another door, glancing out into the corridor he saw several more drones heading towards the room. There was nothing behind him so his only option was to move ahead, he hoped Sanok and Signos were having better luck. He pulled one of the mines, armed it and slid it into the corridor. Hopefully it would take out a couple of the drones and he could deal with the remainder with phaser fire. He counted off the seconds, when he reached five the mine exploded. Taking another glance he saw one drone had died in the blast while the others were merely stunned, one of the remaining did appear to be slightly damaged as it tried to stand. The other two seemed unaffected but just stood there. Something wasn't right, they should be advancing. By now they must realize there was a strike force aboard. Sure the room exploding could have been an accidental overload but the mine was deliberate. The drones grabbed their injured comrade and began pulling it back the corridor. Ben wondered why they would do such a thing rather then deactivate the defective unit as he had read in reports. He stepped out into the corridor and slowly followed the drones. He was beginning to get the feeling he was being lead somewhere. It's as if the drones were sent to confirm his presence but not to engage. Did Volous want them to witness what he was planning to do to Earth? He continued to follow them down the corridor hoping to find some answers. (reply Sanok, Signos, any) (posted by Milo Young) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Bridge - FO - Commander T'Larah Sullivan - 0152) On the way up to the Bridge from sickbay T'Larah's mind had raced. She had thought on her meeting with Volus, on his terms, not on equal footing. She also dwelled on her failure, with out the intervention of McLaren, she would have been one of the faceless automatons walking the deck. She even shuddered on the turbolift ride up, when she thought of what the Borg could have done with her access codes that they would have ripped from her mind once assimilated. Once she reported for duty, that had all changed. Now it was go time. Now with everything on the line, not just the crew, but Earth and the entire Federation. That was pressure, and pressure changed everything. It's one thing to accomplish your duties from day to day, but when you add pressure, some fold under pressure, others focus. These two crews together showed that they collectively under pressure and the heat of conflict with the Borg, that they had became a hard diamond able to weather the storm. Their pursuit of the Tkon sphere suddenly turned for the worse once the sphere fired on them. T'Larah had anticipated this tactic, the Borg were nothing if not persistent. She had angled the deflector arrays to minimize incoming weapons fire. The vessel rocked slightly as the Rose took weapons fire from the sphere. The sensors told her the weapons fire was a disruptor type pulse weapon mostly Borg in origin. ~So the Borg had time to adapt the sphere to their weaponry. Looks like my shield trick worked.~ "Mister Sullivan, weapons free. destroy that sphere." the Captain ordered. "Firing weapons." she said simply, but the firing solutions were anything but simple. She fired everything the forward arcs could muster, phasers, photon and quantum torpedoes. She varied the timing, order of fire and frequency of phaser fire, not giving the Borg anything to adapt to. Explosions, beams and fireballs assaulted against the sphere's shielding. It was bringing the shields down just a little too slowly, and no one knew how long the Rose's engines would hold out at these high impulse speeds. T'Larah was so concentrated on weapons fire, that she was caught off guard when three phased energy attacks careened into the Rose's shields. The triple attack pierced the shields and the console behind her exploded in a shower of sparks and smoke. She reacted quickly enough that the sparks didn't hurt her. The console burst into flame, but was taken care of quickly by the fire suppression system. The smoke cleared and the Captain ordered free helm control to their very able pilot Lt Dralar. The avian officer had good instincts because his maneuver had taken the remaining working nacelle away from the field of fire, just before the Tkon sphere sliced through the ventral shields and sliced the vessel's ventral plane. Sullivan's sensors told her that the sphere's shields were regenerating faster then both ships could bring it down. While the Captain had made arrangements for a slim last ditch effort to beam over to the vessel, T'Larah hoped that their efforts proved fruitful. (Reply any on bridge) (Posted by Todd) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tkon Sphere, Lieutenant jg Sanok, 0153) The three Starfleet security officers moved stealthily through the corridor of the Tkon sphere. Ben was at the point, followed by Signos, with Sanok taking the rear. The Borg could be heard moving about the sphere, mostly behind them, but thus far, it did not seem as though they had been detected. There was something about this that Sanok did not like. This was essentially the last stand for both sides. What happened to the sphere, would determine the future, and the fates of trillions. Why hadn't the Borg moved to stop them? Throwing everything they had at the away team would be the logical thing to do. Sanok was beginning to suspect they were being herded to a specific location. Eventually, the team came to an intersection, which made Sanok rethink his conclusion about being herded. Ben continued straight, while he signaled Signos and Sanok to each take a side corridor. Sanok went to the right. Sanok resumed his stealth, his tricorder on silent mode, and his full concentration on the task at hand. A split second before his tricorder detected the Borg, his Vulcan ears heard them. He stopped, phaser rifle poised, as what sounded like at least five or six drones approached. Around a curve in the corridor, six Borg appeared. They moved towards him as one, their deathly-white countenances staring seemingly at nothing. Just as Sanok was about to fire, the sphere seemed to move unnaturally, and the rumbling sound of an explosion could be heard. One of Sanok's companions had hit paydirt. The Borg stopped, apparently receiving instructions. Saving his shots, Sanok retreated back the way he came until reaching the intersection. A quick scan from his tricorder told him it was Ben that had done the damage. Sanok chose to hold his position at the intersection. If his crew mates had to return this way, he would do his best to cover for them. He prepared a grenade, hid behind the corner, and waited for the drones to arrive. Seconds passed quickly. Except for more explosions in the distance, he heard nothing. What was happening? Had his six Borg been sent elsewhere to face a more imminent threat? Sanok continued to wait, and it paid off. He heard the Borg coming..... (reply Soma, Signos, any) (posted by Bob B.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Bridge - aFO - Cmdr Jennifer (Josh) Caskie - Day 6 - 0153.5) =/\= Ensign Jacobs to Commander Caskie, deflector is charged and we are initiating the code now. =/\= Josh smiled, tapped her comm badge and simply acknowledged Jacobs' comm. Turning to her staff she grinned at them. "You all heard that boys and girls, lets hope it works. Be ready to implement Captain Salid's orders as soon as the Rose sends them. As for my other orders, your all allowed to start praying but I want that course locked in as a secondary target now. "Tom, contact the Rose and acknowledge receipt of those orders. Then liaise with the Rose and make sure their are no problems whilst we remove the docking bridge. That is when both of us will be at our most vulnerable. Let's make sure that we are not if you please." (Reply Jackson) "Mr Raschen I expect you to work with the Rose on a Tactical solution to destroy the Borg with phasers and photon torpedoes should it become necessary. Work with Mr Vanik to find their weak spots. (Reply Raschen) "Mr Vanik. I want you to monitor the Sphere as much as you can and keep looking for weaknesses. Relay all your information to Mr Raschen." (Reply Vanik) " All of you, if you have a chance to destroy the sphere then do so. Do not wait for my orders." (Reply Jackson, Raschen and Vanik) (Posted by Marilyn) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca, Deflector Control - ACSO Ensign Isra Caliel - 0154) ~Nearly there. Just need to keep going a bit longer~ Isra said to herself as they entered the deflector control room. In front of her, two levels of the room opened up, similar in effect to the walkways of Engineering. On the top level, the main control panel flashed and beeped with error codes, the damage done to the ship during the last 24 hours had taken it's toll. Isra listened as Jacobs called for an engineering team, hopefully they would be able to repair enough of the damage to get the deflector working again. "Ensign Caliel, if you would make your way to the second floor you will find the deflector targeting console. From here I will send to feedback code and sequence in which it need s to be distributed." "Please, it's Isra." she said, preferring the less disciplined approach that Jackson had gone with the other day. "At least the terminal still works..." Isra added as she began the climb up the cross between stairs and ladder on the side of the room. (Reply Jacobs, iyw) By the time she'd got to the control panel, the engineering team had arrived, and were beginning the repairs necessary to get enough power into the system. "You heard the Captain lets get this done now!" Henry walked to a console and shouted out to Ensign Caliel looking up in her direction. "Ready? Transfering coded sequence now." "Yeah, I'm ready. Code is transferring into the computer now. Should be done in a few seconds." She said, looking at the transfer rate. "It's a long program..." she said, wondering how she'd managed to write so much code in such a short time. Soon after, she looked down to the lower level. "It's done!" she called down, then pushed the button to start off the chain reaction that would hopefully render all of the Borg inoperative. (Reply Jacobs) ~Finally, it's over.~ she thought, letting herself lean against the control panel as she slid to a seated position on the floor. With a wide yawn, she rested her broken wrist on a leg, and tried to fight the urge to fall asleep. "Must... keep... going..." (Reply Any) Written by Andy Jones --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca- Bridge- LT Chance Raschen- 0155) =/\= Ensign Jacobs to Commander Caskie, deflector is charged and we are initiating the code now. =/\= Chance saw the grin on Josh's face as she turned around to address her Bridge crew "You all heard that boys and girls, lets hope it works. Be ready to implement Captain Salid's orders as soon as the Rose sends them. As for my other orders, your all allowed to start praying but I want that course locked in as a secondary target now. "Tom, contact the Rose and acknowledge receipt of those orders. Then liaise with the Rose and make sure their are no problems whilst we remove the docking bridge. That is when both of us will be at our most vulnerable. Let's make sure that we are not if you please." Once she was finished talking with Tom, Josh's attention turned toward her acting CTac. "Mr Raschen I expect you to work with the Rose on a Tactical solution to destroy the Borg with phasers and photon torpedoes should it become necessary. Work with Mr Vanik to find their weak spots." Raschen looked in Vanik's direction and nodded before refocusing his attention toward the Commander "Ma'am, a link has already been established so the two vessels are already exchanging tactical data. Unfortunately, this ship's weapons capacity is down 15 to 25 percent. That is depending on the proximity to Borg 'modifications', and that is for phasers and torpedoes alike." (Reply: Caskie iyw) After speaking with Vanik, Caskie finished by saying "All of you, if you have a chance to destroy the sphere then do so. Do not wait for my orders." Chance popped off with "Just get me where I can get the shot off." And then smiled the same sadistic smile he had on his face when he committed piracy against enemies of the Federation. (Reply: any iyw) (Reply: Caskie iyw, any iyw) (Posted By: Charlie) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Transporter room 1 - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - Day 6 - 0156) Jessica watched her two friends dissipate, and vanish into the light. Now it was Jessica's turn she stepped onto the pad. Placing her tactical circlet upon her head. "Here we go." She spoke to Lily before she was bathed in a brilliant white light. --------------------------------------------------------------------- (Tkon Sphere - ATAC/SC Ensign (jg) Jessica Signos - Day6 - 0157) The light faded from around her has she took in the insides of Tkon sphere. "Signos Here." She said has she saw Soma and Sanok. She took a position to cover one of the hallways, shifting her monocle to an exographic targeting system. Jessica scanned the area before her looking though the walls, further than line of sight would allow. She listened to the two Lieutenants talk about the best coarse of action, She let them to it. She saw them, the Borg, a good distance away but not for long. The were caught unaware by the small assault teleport entry. "Sirs," She spoke calmly has not to raise alarm. "We got Borg 212 meters out and closing." She scanned other near by area's before adding "On multiple vectors." Jessica then spoke up. "Sirs if I may, the center of the sphere, this vessel was not intended to be a weapon and the center of the sphere is the heaviest armored, along with giving it the shorts possible distance to all area's of the ship. This both makes sense for a tactical command post such has a bridge or the engineering core. Either way something important will more than likely be found there." She moved to the side of Soma and Sanok. "What are your orders?" She asked in a manner that was all business. (reply Soma, Sanok) (Matthew Locke) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca, Deflector Control - ACSO Ensign Isra Caliel - Day 6, 0200) Isra woke with a start as her head hit the side of the terminal she'd fell asleep against. As she regained control of her senses, she rubbed her head where she'd hit the panel, then got up. "What was that?" she asked. (reply any in deflector control) "Why didn't you wake me?" she asked, moving quickly back to the terminal. (reply any) "Never mind. We've still got work to do." she said, rubbing some life back into her eyes for a moment. She tapped her commbadge. "Caliel to Caskie." she began, waiting for her response before continuing. (reply Caskie) "I'm contacting you because I assume the Captain is still unable to. I'm reading multiple responses from the Borg, it looks like we got all of them still onboard." (reply Caskie) "I have more good news." she added, smiling even though she couldn't be seen through the communicator. "The deflector is still functioning, though barely. If the sphere's shields are taken down, I might be able to get a final blast of the code to penetrate their hull, but it would definitely destroy our deflector, which might take a section of the ship with it." she finished. (Reply Caskie) "Understood. Caliel out." she ended the communication with a tap of her commbadge, and turned back to the deflector control terminal. (Reply as necessary) Written by Andy Jones --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Bridge - TAC/SC Lieutenant(SG) Detron Trei - 0205) Detron manned the Security station when Caskie received word the the deflector was ready. She relayed orders that the sphere was to be destroyed along with any Borg encountered during the action. He was more than happy to oblige her wishes in this manner so much that he would like to blow the sphere up bright enough to be seen from Quo'nos or Betazed. He was sure she felt the same way. She couldn't 't read his mind so she didn't know of the deep blood hate he wanted to see all Borg blown into space dust. (Reply Any) (Posted by Edward) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca - Deflector Control - ACEO Ensign(jg) Henry Jacobs - 0207) The action had begun between the two ships and the T'kon sphere. Jacobs had ordered earlier that the engineering team reroute power from the ship's gravitational regulators. This made his movements more noticeable as his steps felt lighter. Isra woke with a start as her head hit the side of the terminal she'd fell asleep against. As she regained control of her senses, she rubbed her head where she'd hit the panel, then got up. "What was that?" she asked. "Oh, the ship's have engaged the sphere. Feels like Helm is using evasive maneuvers, sharp ones at that." Jacobs responded modeling the ship's movement with his hands. "Why didn't you wake me?" she asked, moving quickly back to the terminal. "Rest easy, we are all a little fatigued. Besides you are up now, and you didn't miss anything." he chuckled out. "Never mind. We've still got work to do." she said, rubbing some life back into her eyes for a moment. "True," Henry responded as seriousness returned to his face. He stood there as Isra contacted Commander Caskie and proposed how to increase the effectiveness of the code and disable the drones onboard the sphere. Once the channel was cut Jacobs spoke up. "Where are we going to get the power for this Isra?" (reply Caliel) "This just happened to us in the comm-suite, we give it anymore power and it will blow up in our face. And I am going to have to put her back together again after wards." (reply Caliel) (posted by Darryl) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca, Deflector Control - ACSO Ensign Isra Caliel - Day 6, 0210) Isra had just seemingly put her foot in her mouth by suggesting something they didn't have the power to do, as evidenced when Henry Jacobs spoke. "Where are we going to get the power for this Isra?" He asked her, and it didn't seem to be in a joking tone. "Is the power situation that bad?" she asked, not knowing that the power reserves had dropped that low. "This just happened to us in the comm-suite, we give it anymore power and it will blow up in our face. And I am going to have to put her back together again after wards." He replied. "To be fair, we thought the initial transmission was going to blow the deflector. Maybe we can do it with the power we've got, if we get in close enough?" she suggested, hoping to be able to go along with her idea if Commander Caskie decided to go for it. (Reply Jacobs) "We need to get back to drydock as it is. What's an added deflector when you look at the big picture?" she joked, leaning against the wall behind her, as she tried to think of another idea. (Reply Jacobs) Written by Andy Jones --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca Bridge Lieutenant Tom Jackson 2nd officer/COPS Day 6 0215) Tom was busy. He not only was the acting FO but as COPS. They had moved into the earth period know as Cretaceous period. Tom’s knowledge was limited to knowing that Dinosaurs were the predominant life form. “All sections- report status” Tom keyed ship wide. (Reply: All areas) Weapons and Shields were holding steady. No injuries reported as yet. The Deflect or control team was the main focus. He eagerly awaited their reports. (Reply: any) (Posted by: Bill W.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca Bridge Lieutenant Tom Jackson 2nd Officer / COPS Day 6 0220) The atmosphere was tense. Although the counter measure was beginning to take effect, the two ship task force was still not out of the woods. Jackson kept a close eye on the Boudicca's systems. The ship was running too close to the red lines SF Engineering had listed in the manual's. It was now or never time. The crew was operating as the well trained team he had come to respect. CAPT Durand and CMDR Caskie trained the crew well. Tom was deeply grateful that his first experience as a FO was with such a crew. They were professionals and had accepted him as the 2nd in command. He had learned some valuable lessons on this mission. Tom vowed that when he became a F.O. he'd apply them to his crew. "Mr. Trei, any signs of enemy activity?" Tom asked concerned about surprise attacks. (Reply: Trei) Tom had not heard from Deflector control recently. The silence worried him. He was tempted to call them again but hesitated. Tom guessed they were busy enough doing their duties. Instead he busied himself with keeping a close eye on the readouts and looking at the bridge staff. When this was over, he looked forward to shore leave with Dahlia at SB 989. (Reply: any) (Posted by: Bill W.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Boudicca Bridge Lieutenant Tom Jackson 2nd Officer/COPS Day 6 0225) They were as ready as they’d ever be so Tom opened a channel to Deflector control. “Mr. Caliel, you are free to engage the deflector control weapon at your discretion good luck” Jackson said. (Reply: Isra) The power used was to be enormous. He looked down at the readouts. Tom shunted all Holodeck power to be used by the team in Deflector Control. “All hands all – this is Lieutenant Jackson – all areas not being used for mission support will have its power re-routed to support the targeting of the T’kron sphere. Evacuate those areas now” Tom ordered. (Reply: any that may wish to) Turning to Lieutenant Trei, Jackson issued the following orders “ Mister Trei – capture and detain all Boudicca crew who were assimilated in Sick Bay” . (Reply: Trei). Tom issued further clarification about the Borg drones who were not crew. “Lieutenant Trei – any Borg Drones not members of our crew are to be removed from this vessel – use your discretion as to the means of removal”. (Reply: Trei) Tom turned to Chance to the tactical officer – “keep watch out for any Borg surprises as well”. (Reply: Chance) (Posted by: Bill W.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - Operating Room 2 - Trauma Surgeon - Ensign (Dr) V'Nara Oren - 1521) After the skeleton was assembled and secured, a small adjustment was made to the force-field. O'Neill's soon to be legs were suspended in a nutrient-brine solution, held in place only by force-fields made a surreal image. The liquid pink polyhedron seemingly held together by nothing was site enough that several of the surgical techs were raising an eyebrow of curiosity. (Reply O'Neill, Santiago, IYW) "Well as I had informed you, and that you now know, the surgery has taken and will continue to take, we are implanting live cloned tissue, which normally gets nutrients from the circulatory system, which because of the Borg, you don't have. If we fail to take that into account, the tissues will necrose before we can get the rest of the surgery done." she explained. (Reply any) V'Nara wasted no time returning to the surgery. She began attaching the muscles in layers starting with the lower most and working her way outward. It was long work but, O'Neill broke the silence first. (Reply Eian) "Well after recovery, which will be about two days for your new tendons and ligaments to set in, we will release you, on convelecence with an electro-stimulant brace on both legs from the knee down. These braces will stimulate the new nerve bundles we will put in right after we are done here with the musculature. The stimulation will cause the root nerves to branch out and replicate so you can begin sensation and motor control again. They will also 'pinch hit' for your nerves until they can take over for them selves." she explained. The hum of the suture could be heard softly in the background as she spoke. (Reply Eian) "It is a form of brace that we use in traumatic paralyzation, it receives impulses from your brain, and transfers them to you muscles. I've had it fitted with a low yield neuro-stimulator so your body can rehabilitate." she answered. (Reply Eian) "Your convalescence, will be as long as you need it to be. I will discuss it with Dr. Ichico and the Captain. It will be adjusted according to your needs and the needs of the ship." she said. (Reply Eian) "Needs of the ship means that when we get back to dock, if the Captain needs an engineer, and you are able to ambulate well enough, you will be permitted to light duty." she said. (Reply Eian) "Light duty means no crawling around in jefferies tubes, and from engineering to your quarters is about as far as you will be permitted to walk." she explained. "Is that clear mister?" (reply Eian, Santiago, room for more, IYW) (Posted by Todd) --------------------------------------------------------------------- (USS Rosenante - Sickbay - Operating Room 2 - ACEO Lt JG Eian O'Neill - 1525) Although Eian couldn't see much from his paralyzed position, he caught the sight of his legs rising just slightly in his downward peripheral vision. A pink liquid suddenly surrounded them, but was suspended in the air. ~I'm going crazy,~ was his first thought, but he decided to ask his question instead of make that assumption. "What's with the pink stuff?" he asked, and tried to move his head but was unable. His neck was held firmly in place by the forcefield. He could see, very faintly, the tips of his skeletal toes. It was intensely unnerving. "Well as I had informed you, and that you now know, the surgery has taken and will continue to take, we are implanting live cloned tissue, which normally gets nutrients from the circulatory system, which because of the Borg, you don't have. If we fail to take that into account, the tissues will necrose before we can get the rest of the surgery done." she explained. "So you need the liquid to preserve the life of the skin," Eian finished. For a while afterward, Eian felt tugging and pulling of his upper legs, but could feel nothing below his knees. He realized that he had no nerves. ~This is major, major surgery,~ he realized, strangely for the first time. It was as if it just hit him, and he began to worry about his future. "Will I be able to return to work?" he asked. "Well after recovery, which will be about two days for your new tendons and ligaments to set in, we will release you, on convelecence with an electro-stimulant brace on both legs from the knee down. These braces will stimulate the new nerve bundles we will put in right after we are done here with the musculature. The stimulation will cause the root nerves to branch out and replicate so you can begin sensation and motor control again. They will also 'pinch hit' for your nerves until they can take over for them selves." she explained. The hum of the suture could be heard softly in the background as she spoke. "I haven't heard of an electro-stimulant brace before," he said. He had heard of a neurological stimulator, which wirelessly tapped into the nerves of the body and received signals from the brain. He imagined the two were similar, and what the doctor said next confirmed that. "It is a form of brace that we use in traumatic paralyzation, it receives impulses from your brain, and transfers them to you muscles. I've had it fitted with a low yield neuro-stimulator so your body can rehabilitate." she answered. He would have nodded if he could. That confirmed what he thought, and he wondered if the reason why they couldn't use a wireless one was because of the extent of the damage, and the fact that his nerves were not recognizing an old signature, but learning a new one. "How long will I need to use the braces?" "Your convalescence, will be as long as you need it to be. I will discuss it with Dr. Ichico and the Captain. It will be adjusted according to your needs and the needs of the ship." she said. Eian perked up at that. "So the needs of the ship might be able to accelerate my recovery." "Needs of the ship means that when we get back to dock, if the Captain needs an engineer, and you are able to ambulate well enough, you will be permitted to light duty." she said. "Define 'light duty'," he requested, knowing that doctors sometimes exaggerated the need for convalescence. "Light duty means no crawling around in Jefferies tubes, and from engineering to your quarters is about as far as you will be permitted to walk." she explained. "Is that clear mister?" He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I got it," he said with a bit of irreverence in his voice. He was bored already. He wanted to get back to his job, back to Jessica, back to his life. And he was in major surgery, receiving new legs just as he had received a new arm. Then it occurred to him. "Hey, Doc...why is it that my arm feels different? Isn't it replaced in the same manner as my legs? When you asked me to move it, my brain initiated the normal command, but it felt like only half of my nerves were engaged and I was moving someone else's arm..." (reply V'Nara) ~So it basically is someone else's arm,~ Eian thought somewhat despondently. He was silent for a few moments. He knew his eye had not yet been replaced, because his depth perception was off. "Will...will my eye be replaced with my tissue, or will it have to be prosthetic also?" (reply V'Nara) He had never been vain, but he now thought about how he must look. Would Jessica still think he was attractive? Would everyone look at him differently now? What would his father and brother think? Would he see pity in their eyes every time he saw them? He dreaded finding out. "How many implants had to stay?" (reply V'Nara) (Posted by Morgan G) --------------------------------------------------------------------- End Compile ---------------------------------------------------------------------