USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202004.24 Bridge, Main Engineering, & Hangar Bay: . The Penumbra had left an Away Team on the "friendly" Kyrathian Colony Ship in order to rush to the aid of Aslans fighting other Kyrathians. At the end of that fight, only a single Aslan Battlecruiser, the flagship of Commander Yzzklunkcrick, remained. . On the Bridge were Capt. Zak Taylor, sitting in the Command Chair, rubbing his temples after arguing with the Aslan Commander; Lt. Cmdr. Jason Carter, back at the Helm console; Lt. Tabeshk Tibris at the Operations console; Lt. Denovan Hawke at the Tactical station; and LtJG Katarina Hawke (formerly known as Nine of Twelve) at the auxiliary Medical console. . Down in the Hangar Bay, Lt. Col. Travis Patterson was still aboard the Cerberus, compiling the results of DNA scans of the various Kyrathians and Kyrathian Plants the Penumbra had collected since they'd first started their mission in the Gamma Quadrant. He collected the data onto PADDs and said, "AEGIS, MAX, thank you for your help." . As Patterson stepped out of the Cerberus, he tapped his commbadge, "Patterson to the Captain. I'm on my way to the Bridge with something you're gonna want to see." He didn't wait for a response but hurried to a Turbolift, saying, "Bridge, priority one." . In Main Engineering, Lt. Cmdr. Bevin MacArdry handed off her tasks to an assistant and started making her way to the Bridge. She'd found that trying to facilitate telepathic communication with the second Kyrathian independent over commbadges was troublesome, so she figured she'd just get to the Bridge to simplify matters. . Carter sat at the Helm console holding a hand to his temple, shaking his head slightly. . Hawke scanned his console and reported, "So far, everything is looking all right, no hostiles."

. On the main viewer, the huge cockroach-like Aslan Commander waved his antennae, buzzed his mouth reed and clicked his shell. The Universal Translator conveyed his words, "I was right about you soft-shells. Too weak and untrustworthy!" . Tabby couldn't contain himself. He said, "This is probably gonna cost me but ... Yzz, shut up." . The Aslan thunked and said, "Who is this ... person?" . Carter cut a glance at Tabby that clearly said without words, ~Shut the heck up or you're gonna get us all in serious trouble!~ . Tabby answered, "Lieutenant Tabeshk Tiwan Tibris, but that isn't important, Yzz." . The Captain explained, "Lt. Tibris is my Operations Manager and one of the senior officers on this ship." . Tabby continued, "Whether you want to listen or not, there are two groups of the Kyrathians. One group is the Swarm, the other are ... independents." . The Aslan continued with his Aslan "glare", flicking his antennae and clicking his shell. He said, "You claim there are two types of Kyrathians, but all I see are swarming pests." . Tabby sighed, "I understand that, but ... just consider it, all right, Yzz?" . At that moment, Patterson stepped out of the Turbolift onto the Bridge. He moved to his chair but didn't sit, instead handing a PADD to the Captain. . Zak glanced up at Patterson and rolled his eyes as he gestured to the Aslan on the main viewer. Kat also looked up as Patterson entered but didn't say anything. . Carter shook his head again and whispered, "MIRAGE is up?" . Tabby ducked his head slightly and whispered back, "Yep, just set it up before you got here." . The Captain took Patterson's PADD and scanned it, then stopped to read it more carefully. He looked up at Patterson, "This is confirmed?" . It was MAX who answered, his face appearing on a nearby monitor, "It is confirmed by me and AEGIS, Captain."

. At that moment, Bevin stepped out of the other Turbolift. She muttered something in her thick Scottish Brogue, "Mebbe sae. An I say a glaikit sumph tha daesnae ken hais frainds fra hais ainimies dae tae hais ivvirwainin praide ain hawbris tha waill lait hain thaink o nae ithir pawssibilities tha caeld be." . Kat blinked at the nearly unintelligible accent and even the Captain had to turn and say, "Whoa, Bev, even I didn't follow that one! Something about pride and hubris?" . Bevin grinned and sent a telepathic translation, ~Maybe so. And I see a *glaikit sumph (stupid imbicile) that doesn't know his friends from his enemies due to his overweening pride and hubris that will let him think of no other possibilities that could be.~* . Tabby flushed as he heard the translation in his head, "Oh! Right, yeah, maybe better Yzz didn't hear that." . Bevin grinned, "Mebbe sae, bit I'd LAVE tae gi haim a faistfawl o bawrik aicid ip hais snawt." . Tabby cleared his throat and spoke to Yzz again, "All I can say, Yzz, is that one ship has a glyph, the other doesn't, and the one that doesn't is currently friendly with us. We are working to find more information at this time." . Hawke muttered, just loud enough for the Captain but hopefully not loud enough for Yzz to hear, "Weapons are still locked on them. Should I stand down?" . Yzz had not heard Hawke and spoke before the Captain could respond, "So, I will be an honorable commander and allow you to surrender without firing on you. I will take you back to the Queen and she will decide your fate." . Tabby nearly choked, "Seriously?" . Carter was rubbing his forehead again, then blinked and muttered, "The ... pain is ... gone." He turned to the Captain, "I ... I can hear them, sir." He squinted his eyes shut as he concentrated, sending his first real telepathic thought, ~Shadow, can you hear me?~ . Though no-one could hear it but Carter, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala responded, ~Yes, Carter, I hear you.~

. Carter blinked, surprised, ~Shadow! I'm new to this but ... I can hear the Noble!~ . Shadow replied, ~She's very good at this means of communicating.~ . While Carter was contacting a friendly mind, Patterson turned and stepped towards the viewscreen. He said, "Commander Yzz. First and foremost, considering the state your vessel is in, if we wanted to cause any damage to it, we could've done so with a fraction of our weapon system's power capabilities. Secondly, you know for a fact the tactic we deployed to remove the pods from your shields was safe, as we've done the same method before with our Flyers to keep your ships alive. Lastly ... I have confirmed, hard evidence to prove that there are indeed two different species within what we know as the Kyrathian Heirarchy." He paused. "With all due respect, we aren't going anywhere ... and neither are you right now, with how your ship looks." . Tabby facepalmed and groaned, "Ay-yi-yi!" . The Captain sat back in his chair and crossed one leg over the other. He said, "So, Commander Yzz-klunk-whatever ... I don't think we will be surrendering just yet. Rather, I'd like to show you the evidence." . Yzzklunkcrick buzzed and said, "Evidence, you say? What have you manufactured to hold up your sham of an alliance?" . Bevin muttered, "Thairs nane sae blaind ais thase tha raifewse tae say." . Zak glanced up at Patterson, "Want to send it over, Colonel?" He addressed Yzz on the viewer, "Commander Yzz ... I assure you; we have hard evidence. There are two different kinds of Kyrathians, one that is a dangerous Swarm, and the other ... well, who are not a Swarm." . Suddenly, a call came over Patterson's commbadge from Lt. T'Lin on the Away Team, "Colonel, I require an update on the eggs. Allow the Science Lab access to the Cerberus, please. I am not in a position to NOT give an update on the safety of her eggs and we are at a fifty to one disadvantage."

. Patterson glanced at the Captain for confirmation and when the Captain nodded, he tapped his commbadge, "AEGIS, lower the Cerberus shields ... and prepare the incubator for transport." He tapped it again to change the channel, "Patterson to T'Lin, the shields are down ... and we are preparing to return her eggs. A gesture of good intent." . T'Lin replied, "Thank you. I am so pleased that I have less of a chance of having my person be devoured by Spores." She gave a tense laugh as she signed off. . But the Captain interrupted, "Colonel, we can't transport the eggs from here, we're ... what, nearly two light years away." But AEGIS did beam the incubator into the Marine Vehicle Bay to prepare it for later transport. . The Captain returned his attention to the Aslan on the main viewscreen, "The Colonel will transmit a data file. While you review it, we need to get back to our Away Team. Tabby, close the channel, please." . Tabby nodded, "Aye, sir, channel closing in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... closed." . Zak turned to his Helmsman, "Carter, you ready to fly again?" Without waiting for an answer, he ordered, "Take us back to our Away Team." . Carter's fingers flew over the Helm console as he said, "Coming about to 131 mark 24. Warp 8 in 5 seconds." . Then Zak turned to his Tactical Officer, "Hawke, watch Yzz closely, don't let him shoot us in the back!" . Hawke replied, "Of course. I've been keeping an eye on them." He looked across to his sister, "Kat, keep an eye on those lifesign signals also on the ships, if they are moving in an erratic pattern tell me." . She nodded in response, "I'll keep an eye on those lifesigns." . As the ship jumped to Warp, Tabby turned and said, "I hope I didn't overstep my boundaries. I just hate it when people speak ill of the ship." . Zak didn't say anything, just smirked as he turned to Patterson, "Colonel, care to share with the rest of the bridge crew what was on that PADD we sent to Yzz?"

. Patterson nodded but then said, "I think it'd be best to call senior officers to the Lounge, Captain. Let's focus on getting our crew back in one piece?" . Carter interrupted, "Ten seconds to rendezvous. Do we want to drop the MIRAGE?" . Zak turned, "Yeah, Hawke, drop the MIRAGE so our friend knows it's us coming. And take us down to Yellow Alert." . Hawke dropped the alert level even as he said, "Are you sure you want me to drop MIRAGE, sir?" . Zak answered, "There aren't any threats around we need to hide from, Den. Drop MIRAGE as we drop out of warp, and between Bevin and our new telepath ...," he nodded towards Carter, "you can 'hail' our friends." . Hawke dropped the MIRAGE but said as he did so, "For the record, I don't advise it." . Zak smiled at the over-cautious Tactical Officer, "Your concerns are noted, Lieutenant. Keep your eyes open." . Hawke took that as an opening and sent out a low-level tachyon ping to scan the area. . Carter announced, "Dropping warp 150 km from the Kyrathian vessel. We're at all stop, sir." Then he called telepathically, ~Shadow, Ride's here.~ . As Tabby checked over the ship's systems he muttered, "If Vulcans have that weird mind meld thingy, what do Romulan's have?" . Zak overheard his muttering and answered with a smirk, "Romulans have a gift for being irritating." . "That's not funny," the half-Romulan pouted. . Hawke added, "What it is, Tabby, is the same idea, however some Romulans don't need to touch. Some Remans are even more adept at it, like Betazoids." . Then a call came from T'Lin, "Penumbra, are you here yet? I believe we are about to overstay our visit." . A few moments later Relok called from the Kyrathian ship, "Away Team ready for transport."

. Zak turned to Tabby, "Bring our people home, Lieutenant." The half-Klingon operated the ship's transporters and the Away Team beamed aboard. . Patterson turned to the Captain, "Permission to leave the ship, sir? I want to meet this Noble myself." . But Zak looked up at him, "Didn't T'Lin just say they've overstayed their welcome? Let's give her her eggs and let it sit for a bit. You and I will go later." . Then Patterson suggested, "Or ... we could invite her here?" . Zak balked at the idea, "I don't want to risk her carrying Spores and dissolving our ship!" . Patterson calmed him, "The Marine LAVs, Zak." He was referring to the Light Armored Vehicles they kept in the Marine Vehicle Bay. "Wouldn't take much to create an electrostatic field within the Vehicle Bay ... worth the thought, at least." . Zak considered a moment and then said, "Actually, Travis, that's a good idea. Bring her over here to see her eggs. And it keeps our tactical advantage." . Hawke suggested, "I also thought about bringing up the defense fields, if anyone is still old school, different than the shields." . Zak agreed, "Hawke, let's put some force fields around the perimeter of the Launch Bay where the Marines keep their ground vehicles. Sort of extra protection on the walls. But I don't want it to feel like the brig." . "On it, Captain," Hawke said as his fingers worked across his console. . MAX's face appeared on a console, "I have polarized the secondary hull plating with the same electrostatic configurations on the LAVs. It should significantly decrease the threat of Spores." . Carter tried his hand at telepathic communication with the Kyrathian Noble, speaking the words aloud as he did so, ~Noble Mother... would you like to come aboard to see your eggs?~ . Her reply could only be heard by those with telepathic abilities, but Carter spoke them so others could hear as well, ~You would bring me to your ship? Then ... how would mine continue to function?~

. Carter continued to speak his reply out loud so others could hear it even as he projected the thought to the Noble, ~I was not aware you leaving it for a short period would cause it to cease functioning.~ Away Team: . Lt. Cmdr. Relok, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala, and Lt. T'Lin, along with 3 Marines for security, were left aboard the friendly Kyrathian's Colony Ship, interacting with their Noble through both Shadow's telepathy and T'Lin using their glyph writing through a Plant Bulb Node. . The Noble could merely glance at the Node and glyphs would appear, but T'Lin would have to type on her PADD that was plugged into the Node. The Noble sent her message, [When will you be returning my eggs? They are at a sensitive stage.] . T'Lin read the message out loud so that both Relok and Shadow would know what the Noble had said, then she replied, speaking the words aloud as she texted, [Our ship went back to assist our allies in fighting off the Swarm. Your eggs are safe. As soon as our ship comes back, I will speak with them, and we will figure out how to help the Plant. While they are there, I would like you to tell me everything you can about the Swarm and the Plant.] She paused, then typed, [I would also ask for small samples of genetic material from one of every class you have on this ship, as well as a sample of the Pure Plant. One Worker, one Soldier, one Noble, one Gatherer. I need to see how your ship has not been affected, and how I can help the ones that are sick.] . While she waited for the Noble's response, she tapped her commbadge to call the Penumbra, "Science Labs, I need an update on the eggs, the Noble says they are at a sensitive stage of their growth." . A technician in the Science Lab responded, "Lieutenant! Good to hear from you. Um, last I knew the Colonel had the eggs locked up in the Cerberus, and ... you know ... nobody can get near that thing."

. T'Lin answered, "Give me a moment." She tapped her badge again to change the channel, "Colonel, I require an update on the eggs. Allow the Science Lab access to the Cerberus, please. I am not in a position to NOT give an update on the safety of her eggs and we are at a fifty to one disadvantage." . Patterson's voice came back, "Patterson to T'Lin, the shields are down ... and we are preparing to return her eggs. A gesture of good intent." . T'Lin replied, "Thank you. I am so pleased that I have less of a chance of having my person be devoured by Spores." She gave a tense laugh as she signed off. . Meanwhile, the Noble had sent more glyphs to the Bulb, [All Kyrathians have common DNA, the different classes are caused by metamorphoses after our larval stage. And, I'm sure you have samples already, seeing as how you have my eggs.] . T'Lin read the message and then responded, [I will not take samples from children. They have no say. No ability to agree or disagree. The best viable options are fully grown Kyrathians, and you have been the only ones that have not attempted to kill me.] . The Noble flittered her wings and cocked her head to the side, her equivalent to a chuckle. Then glyphs streamed across the Bulb, [They are not children, they are eggs! They do not become what you would call 'children' until they reach pupae.] . Shadow replied telepathically, broadcasting enough so that Relok, his Shayana who shared a mental bond, and even T'Lin who was only empathic and not telepathic, could hear his thoughts, ~We believe differently, that all life is precious, especially the lives of the young.~ . And then Shadow's expression changed as he heard a new mental voice. It was Lt. Cmdr. Jason Carter, learning to use his newly awakened psionic powers, ~Shadow, can you hear me?~ . Though no-one else on the Away Team could hear him, Shadow responded, ~Yes, Carter, I hear you.~

. Carter's mental voice sounded surprised, ~Shadow! I'm new to this but ... I can hear the Noble!~ . Shadow replied, ~She's very good at this means of communicating.~ . T'Lin was typing on her PADD, [Even more reason to keep them from taking samples from your eggs. Children have little ability to reason, even younger than that, no reasoning at all!] She gave a soft chuckle. . Relok addressed the Noble, reflexively speaking out loud, "We wish you no harm, nor your eggs. But ...," then he noticed the Noble had no idea what he was saying. He turned to T'Lin, "T'Lin, type this: We need info on your Pure Plant." . T'Lin nodded, adding a bit to Relok's request. She spoke the words as she typed them, [We are preparing to bring your eggs back. We need more information on your Pure Plant.] . The Noble read the glyphs and then replied, her words streaming into the Bulb like magic, [We will share information on the Pure Plant and the Wild Growth once we have my eggs. I think this meeting has gone well, but ... you are released.] She started to turn away. . T'Lin quickly typed another text, [One more question before we go. The first time I accessed a Node, it was flashing these colors: blue, orange, pink, green, yellow. Blue, orange, pink, green, yellow. It kept repeating, and it felt ... alarmed. Can you tell me what those colors mean? I cannot help but notice that this Node had no colors when I accessed it. Why is that?] . The Noble turned back to the Bulb and after reading T'Lin's message, her reply began to appear, [This was on a Swarm vessel? Blue would mean this likely wasn't a Colony Ship. Where were you? Orange showed some kind of temperature issue, something overheated? Pink, green, yellow probably mean together that the Tenders had detected a threat to the Plant.]

. T'Lin started typing her response, [We were at a station, ships had been getting attacked by them, so we went to investigate. Thank you for teaching me so much, we will take our leave.] . Shadow sent a telepathic question, ~Great Mother, is there any way to get the Wild Growth tamed once more? One of the Swarm ships left it growing unchecked on the planet of some friends.~ . The Noble turned towards Shadow and answered telepathically, ~I said we would discuss the Wild Growth and the Pure Plant after you've returned my eggs. I also said ... you're released. That means, get off my ship.~ . While Shadow was hearing the Noble's thoughts, he also heard another from Carter, ~Shadow, ride's here.~ . Shadow answered Carter, ~Heard you, Carter, have a question that just got answered with their Great Mother.~ . The Noble apparently also heard Carter's call. She sent a telepathic comment, ~Ah, your ship is here. You may go. Send my eggs and we will speak again.~ . T'Lin sensed the shift in emotions and knew the Noble was done with their meeting. She tapped her commbadge, "Penumbra, are you here yet? I believe we are about to overstay our visit." She disconnected her PADD from the Plant Node and stepped over to the place they had beamed into. . Shadow sent a final telepathic message, ~Thank you for talking with us Great Mother, may your children grow in peace and safety.~ He moved to join T'Lin, sending to her as he did, ~T'Lin, your translations were fantastic, thank you.~ . Relok and the Marines joined T'Lin and Shadow, and Relok tapped his commbadge, "Away Team ready for transport." Seconds later they materialized in Transporter Room 1 aboard the Penumbra. . Shadow staggered slightly as the number of telepathic voices suddenly diminished and he could release the strain he'd been maintaining while he was on the Kyrathian ship. Relok reflexively reached and grabbed Shadow to stabilize him. "Easy, Shayana," he said.

. Shadow smiled back at him, "I'll be okay, Shayana." . The six Away Team members stepped off the PADD and headed towards the decontamination area. Relok sighed, "I, for one, can't wait to get out of this suit!"

@everyone Another exciting Sim Log Narrative is posted!