USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202003.13 Bridge & Sickbay: . The Penumbra was hovering near the nebula where a "friendly" Kyrathian ship had just fired on three of her own kind, while 2 Aslan Battlecruisers and 1 Frigate had arrived to lay into the other Kyrathians, and Patterson on the Cerberus and eight Delta Flyers prepared to engage ... somebody ... at the Captain's direction. And the Captain had ordered them all to defend the friendly Kyrathian, but ... would they fire on their allies, the Aslans? . On the Bridge were Capt. Zak Taylor, standing in the center of the Bridge, stroking his chin in thought; Lt. Cmdr. Relok, the Vulcan Science Officer and Acting Executive Officer in Patterson's absence, sitting now at the Secondary Science Console where he'd been monitoring Dr. Shadow K'Trevala; Dr. K'Trevala, now lying unconscious after trying to communicate with the "friendly" Kyrathian noble, overwhelmed by the sheer power of the Kyrathians' telepathic communication when all the others arrived; Lt. Cmdr. Jason Carter, intently focused on holding their position while coordinating Delta Flight amongst the nearly forty Energy-Siphoning Pods swarming the area; Lt. T'Lin, the Vulcan Assistant Chief of Sciences, sitting at the Primary Science Console trying desperately to come up with another mean of talking to the Kyrathians; Lt. Tabeshk Tibris, the half-Romulan/half-Klingon Chief of Operations, sitting at his Operations Console; LtJG Denovan Hawke, the Assistant Chief of Tactical Operations, scanning the combat zone to track all the potential targets; and Nine of Twelve, Hawke's sister and former Borg medical drone (recently de-assimilated), kneeling on the floor near the unconscious doctor making sure he was okay. . Relok breathed, "Thank the Great Sehlat!"

. Down in Sickbay, Ens. Thelthaa th'Rone, the Andorian nurse, was readying equipment in case they were needed. He kept an open commlink to the Bridge on a central monitor so that Sickbay could stay informed. . Relok, his mental bond with his Shayana, his Oath-Brother, Shadow, broken when Shadow lost consciousness, looked across at Nine. He asked, "Is he okay?" . Nine glanced around the Bridge, staying close to her patient. When Relok asked her about Shadow, she turned back to him and answered, "Other than being unconscious, Shadow should be fine." She gave him another careful check to be sure. . The Captain turned to T'Lin and said, "So, T'Lin, you and Tabby think the Swarm might be driven by their Plant gone crazy again?" . But it was Tabby who answered, "Yeah, pretty much." Then he muttered, "I still think it needs to be killed." He turned his chair and spoke a little more firmly, "Maybe it's my Klingon blood. But the Romulan side can't think of anything either. That's all I can come up with that should work." . Zak asked, "But ... the Wild Growth was on their homeworld, wasn't it? It can't be controlling all these Colony Ships? Could it?" . Tabby responded, "With its telepathic ability, Captain, it could, depending on its strength. Perhaps this nebula has unknown properties that allow Kyrathians to think for themselves?" . Relok stood from his seat and looked across the Bridge at Tabby, "But," he said, "all the Kyrathians' technology is derived from their Plant. Imagine what your life would be like without your computers and display screens, lights and turbolifts ...," he trailed off. . Tabby just stared back at him a moment and then said, "If life was like that, Relok, we wouldn't have this problem in the first place, now, would we?" . The Captain turned and glanced up at the viewscreen that showed the nebula glowing faintly in front of them. He asked, "You think ... the nebula does it?"

. Tabby answered, "Yes, Captain. Maybe it does have like a neutralization aspect. Maybe that's why she doesn't want to leave." . Hawke chimed in then. "If that's true, then shouldn't our friend revert once she leaves it?" . The Captain turned to face his Tactical Officer, "Or maybe ... the others will break out of the Swarm if they enter it?" . Hawke said, "Yes, I was thinking that too. So, we're going to have to lure them in there." . But Relok said, "But, our friend leaves the nebula, flying back and forth to the water world." . Zak turned back to face Relok and Hawke and asked, "So, maybe the presence of the nebula in the system reaches further than just the nebula?" . Then Tabby suggested, "Hmm ... then maybe it's the planet's doing? Or maybe, we're in some sort of ... zone?" He paused and then asked, "Captain, if the Aslans are going to open fire recklessly and disregardfully, like fools, are we to fight ... against them?" . Zak turned back to his Operations Officer, "I hope we don't have to actually shoot at the Aslans. That would complicate things even further than they are. But ...," he trailed off. . Tabby grunted, "Captain, I agree, I would rather not, but ... they won't listen! They are fools!" . Relok didn't comment on shooting at the Aslans, but instead said, "If it's the whole planetary system then the other Kyrathians would have left the Swarm the moment they dropped out of warp. No, there's something else going on." . Down in Sickbay, Ens. th'Rone was listening to the Bridge discussion. Being a junior officer he didn't feel comfortable chiming in, but he muttered to himself, "Maybe it's reproducing." . Nine was on the Bridge, but like th'Rone, she wasn't sure of her place, having no rank or official position amongst the crew. She just listened, like a drone, absorbing information since she'd never encountered the Kyrathian Swarm before, that she could recall, anyway.

. Tabby was still worried about having to fight the Aslans. He mumbled, "But ... they outgun us. Yes, we move better, but ...," he trailed off and then glanced up at the Captain, "It's all up to you, sir." . The Captain gave a sigh and said, "I'm hoping the Aslans won't shoot at us! Maybe by imposing ourselves between them and the friendly Kyrathian, they'll stop shooting, at that one, anyway." . Tabby grinned, "I like that idea, Captain, blocking attacks to the friendly Kyrathian. I'll have to use Bug Zapper for the Pods." He turned back to his console and began pulling up schematics, muttering to himself, "I wonder if I can aim it at the enemy Kyrathians." . Zak answered Tabby's muttering, "Tabby, you know the Bug Zapper doesn't work that way, you built it after all! It can get the Pods just before they reach our shields but it's not a beam weapon or anything of the sort." . Tabby grinned without turning around, "Doesn't mean I can't make it that way, or ... make something else." He chuckled softly as he muttered, "A bug beam! Hmm, Tabby you're a genius!" Then he grumbled, "But, uh ... can't build it. That's kinda Bevin's job." . Then Hawke said, "It's too bad we can't actually get a physical sample of the nebula and turn it into a torpedo. You know kind of make it like a mustard bomb and try it on them." . Relok turned to look at the Tactical Officer, "Do you think that's possible?" . Again, alone in Sickbay, th'Rone mumbled to himself, "Maybe the computer can make those torpedoes." But, of course, no-one on the Bridge could hear him. He pulled a PADD from his jacket pocket and started working on that kind of torpedo. . Hawke gave a slight shrug at Relok, "That's the problem, I'm not sure if a nebula is even 'tangible' like that. I know we can capture atmosphere."

. Nine still knelt on the floor beside Shadow's unconscious form. Her head turned back and forth between her brother, Relok, and the rest of the Bridge crew. She was more of a listener than a talker. She was simply absorbing information. . Then Relok said, "Hawke, maybe we can send a probe to scoop up some of the gases, see what we can rig up? It might not do anything, but ... it's worth a try, I guess." . While Tabby was focused on his new "Bug Beam", a signal came over the comm system from Sickbay, but ... he didn't notice it right away. . Zak turned back towards Hawke and Relok, "What was it Shadow said the Noble told him? Something about something wasn't ready, that the Swarm would take it all or something?" . Suddenly Hawke turned to Relok, "Wait a minute! That just gave me an idea, Relok! Keyword in there: scoop. We could use the ram scoops! See if we can suck it up in them and vent it out." Then he sighed, "But that means getting right on top of them." . Relok cocked his head slightly and then answered, "But, to fly the Penumbra in would take us out of the fighting. We could just use a probe to gather some of the gases while we use the ship as the shield the Captain had in mind." . Zak nodded slowly as he glanced over at Hawke. "I see where you're going, but ... if it didn't do anything ...," he trailed off. . Tabby interjected, "Is there a way we can tell the friendly noble to stay in the nebula? And what if it has ... like a shield over it? Oh, and also, while we're at it, can't we use Merasha as like a spray to neutralize the 'evil' Kyrathians so they can't join in our private conversation?" . The Captain turned to Tabby, "Well, we did develop 'Bug Bombs' that have Merasha and insecticides in them. They were effective back on Janidor." . Tabby asked, "Then ... can't we use them here? Drive the bad ones away, hide the good one? Aslans go for the bad guys, we vanish." . Hawke nodded, "Aye, that'd be the gambit."

. Tabby added, "We made it clear we're not joining their genocide, so ...," he trailed off, but then said, "We're gonna have to pull many idea outta our butts. But, they'll have a safe advantage. We don't need to go in guns blazing." . The Captain reminded him though, "Well, I don't think the Aslans have seen that it's so 'clear' yet, Tabby. We haven't actually covered the Kyrathian just yet." He gestured up at the main viewer and the sea of swarming Pods out there as he said, "There's nearly 50 of those damn Pods out there!" . Tabby grunted back, "I see that! But ... there has to be something better than violence!" As he said this he noticed the comm signal flashing on his console. He hit the button and a voice came through. "I say again, Acting Chief Medical Officer to the Bridge, please turn to your emergency medical channel." . Nine glanced around the Bridge. She knew Shadow was down, but she didn't know who would be the "Acting Chief Medical Officer". She turned and activated the emergency medical channel. . Zak finally heard the voice from Sickbay and answered, "Sorry, uh ... Ensign. Go ahead." . On the monitor the blue skinned, white haired Andorian, Ens. Thelthaa th'Rone, appeared and said, "Greetings. I'm Ensign th'Rone. I've been listening in to your nebula idea. I'm working on a formula on the computer, having a 67% correct guess on what that nebula is made of." . The Captain gestured to Relok, "See what he's got, Relok." . The Vulcan Chief of Sciences turned to the console near him and pulled up Thel's data. As Relok reviewed it, Thel said, "But with this guess, it could disable the ship. We'll have to reprogram the computer for more power." . Relok confirmed, "Captain, Thel's right. There are some elements in that nebula that if mixed in the wrong concentrations with our warp plasma or coolants, it could be dangerous." . Hawke grinned, "Well, we'll just have to be extra careful."

. Relok glanced over at the Tactical Officer, "Extra, extra careful, Hawke! But ... it could be done. But ... would it do anything to the Swarm? We don't know if it's the nebula that separated our "friendly" from them or something else entirely!" . Hawke's grin faded as he said, "I know, Relok, but we've got to try something, and thinking outside the box like we are, we may come up with something." . Tabby chimed in, "We're about helping people, right? Not violence or war, so ... let's do something!" . The Captain glanced between Tabby, Relok, and then Hawke. "So, what if it's the plant after all and has nothing to do with the nebula? We break off from the fight, fly our ship through that dangerous soup, scoop it up, dump it on them, and nothing happens!" . Hawke gave a slight shrug. "Then, I don't know. Unless we test it with a probe first, like Relok initially said, and we can scoop it up with those. Then they can be modified into torpedoes for that mustard bomb I thought of." . On the monitor, Thel took his head in both hands, his antennae drooping. "Bridge, can you send someone with command training here to take over Sickbay? I belive I would be better up there." . Zak nodded at Relok, "Send somebody to Sickbay." He addressed Thel, "Come on up, Ensign, we could use all the help we can get." . Thel responded, "Aye, coming now." He closed the comm channel and grabbed his PADD with his calculations and exited Sickbay, headed to the nearest Turbolift. . Nine had continued listening quietly. She didn't have anything to add to the conversation, so she just absorbed it all. . T'Lin meanwhile, had been so preoccupied with translating the Kyrathian Code, and forming coherent sentences, that she hadn't really been listening to the conversation going on around her. Finally she said, "It is a hatchery. She is using the pressure from the ocean to accelerate the maturity of her eggs." . Relok whirled on his assistant, "What?"

. T'Lin regarded him calmly and answered, "The submarine, it is for her eggs. She is protecting her eggs." . Relok replied, "So ... when she said, 'They'll take all of it,' she meant ... they'll take all her eggs?" . "Indeed," T'Lin responded. . Zak glanced between his two Science Officers. "Take ... all her ... eggs?" He struggled to catch up. "For the Swarm? And ... that's why she was afraid?" . Nine finally joined in. She said, "Doubtful just her eggs." She considered how some species behaved and continued, "They would probably strip the world of its resources as well as the eggs." . The Captain continued, "And she's willing to fight off her own people to prevent HER eggs from becoming part of the Swarm!" His face hardened and he turned to his Tactical Officer, "Hawke, I don't think it's about that nebula. There's something special about THAT Noble, unique to her. All the more reason to keep the Aslans from destroying her and her ship!" . Tabby commented, "Maybe she wasn't born on the planet where the plant resides, therefore she never was infected by it?" . T'Lin added, "It is likely her DNA has some sort of enzyme that the rest of the Swarm lacks." . Tabby continued, "If that would be the case, then there should be more like her." . Relok turned to his assistant, "T'Lin, it must be that her plant, her eggs, her Colony, isn't infected by whatever drives the Swarm!" . Hawke interjected, "Then what, just call our friend and ask?" . Nine mused, "Well, she is called 'noble'. Maybe she's royalty among the Swarm?" . Tabby said, "Maybe she's a descendant of one of the Kyrathians who were once Federation, and knows the plant is insane. Could such a thing be possible?" . About that time Thel arrived and stepped off the Turbolift, stepping up to Hawke at the Tactical console and presenting his PADD with his update.

. The Captain considered, "So, it's not the nebula, or the planet, it's her. We have to protect her." He made a decision. "Carter, Hawke, put us between the Aslans and our new friend. Tabby, ready the Bug Zapper, we're going to need it against all those Pods!" . Carter, who'd sat quietly at the helm through all of the discussion, responded, "Aye, sir!" and the ship began to move into position. . The Captain added, "And Carter, get Delta to clear the road for us ... preferably without losing any Flyers!" The Chief of Flight Operations quickly contacted Delta Flight and relayed their orders. . T'Lin said, "We need to get her to safety, and find some other way to communicate where the Swarm cannot hear us." She paused then said, "Give me just a moment." She started typing on her console, pulling up the Code from the first plant Node she had interacted with many months before. . Hawke said, "If we get close enough to the Noble then I can extend our shields." . Thel, standing beside him, said, "We may not have enough power, Lieutenant." . T'Lin answered, "If we could send a portable shield generator over via beaming, that may be just enough to give us time." . The Captain nodded at Hawke, "Do it, but don't weaken our own defenses too much. We both need to survive this fight." . Hawke nodded, "On it." He'd have to wait until they were close enough, but as soon as he had the range, he would be ready to extend their shields. . Tabby said, "T'Lin, this is gonna sound risky as hell, but ... what if we beam her and her eggs onto the Penumbra?" . T'Lin shook her head, "No. Too many people, and too few biosuits." . Tabby countered, "What if she was put in a suit then? And her eggs quarantined?" . Relok answered, "T'Lin's right. We can't have her bringing Plant Spores onto the ship, even accidentally." . Thel commented, "But, the spores could be useful. We need that to learn about what that thing is."

. Relok glanced over at Thel and said, "Those spores dissolve any organic matter in seconds. I'd love to study them, but ... they're too risky. The spores devour plastic, rubber, cloth, anything with carbon, hydrogen, oxygen chemical composition." . T'Lin agreed, "Our quarantine would be consumed immediately." She paused and then suggested, "What if we could beam someone over there? A telepath perhaps?" . The Captain glanced over at Relok, "So ... do we send her an ambassador?" . Tabby interrupted, "Too risky. If the Aslans shoot at her ship, they'll kill us with her." . Thel asked, "Could we trick them?" . There was silence a moment as they considered and then T'Lin said, "Then we need to contact them now." . Tabby thought T'Lin was talking about contacting the friendly Kyrathian and objected, "We can't do that through telepathy, her sisters will hear us!" . But T'Lin was thinking of other contact. She asked, "Do we have any sort of beacon, or identifying object the Aslans could pick up on?" . The Captain flopped into the Big Chair, apparently tired of pacing by this point. He said, "What we need to do is drive off the Swarm ships ... or let the Aslans destroy them ... but keep the friendly safe until we can further our talk." . Then Tabby turned his chair and said, "Captain, those Janosian beetle's bug juice ... the Kyrathians hated it before. Use that on the Swarm ships!" . T'Lin interjected, "I still believe beaming a shield generator on their ship would be most successful. I could alter one to be specific against the Aslan's weapons, though I would most likely need Carter's assistance. The bug bombs could work ... if we could get close enough to use them without getting hit."

. On the main viewer they could see Delta Flight beginning to clear out some of the Energy-Siphoning Pods from the area as the Penumbra moved into a position in front of the friendly Kyrathian's ship. Hawke extended the ship's shields to surround their new friend and then muttered, "That's not too bad, only a 15% drain in power of the shields." . Thel leaned over Hawke's shoulder and suggested, "Bounce the drain of our shields onto theirs, Tac." . Hawke answered, "The drain is because I extended our shields around them, Ensign. It was expected." . Suddenly, a chirp came from Tabby's console. He said, "Captain, incoming hail from the Aslan Commander." . The Captain stood back up, straightened his shirt, and nodded at Tabby. A moment later the enormous mottled cockroach of the Aslan Commander, Yzzklunkcrik, appeared on screen. He clicked and thunked a moment, his antennae flailing, before the Universal Translator kicked in. "Captain Tayy-lor! What are you doing?"

@everyone Another Sim Narrative is posted!