USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202007.17 ANNOUNCEMENT: . This is the ninth episode of Lt. Tibris' sim plot to aid the Ivorez and save the Wild Growth. This is where we 'switch gears' to start focusing on getting to the Kyrathian Homeworld to assess the Wild Growth. Main Observation Lounge: . Capt. Zak Taylor had withdrawn to his Ready Room and made contact with Ambassador Adam Android to request the aid of the Aslan Fleet, but before the Aslans can be properly deployed, the Penumbra will have to do what they came to the Gamma Quadrant for: reconnaissance. . The Captain summoned his Senior Staff to the Observation Lounge to discuss options on how to proceed. . While the Captain tarried in his Ready Room after calling for the Briefing, Lt. Denovan Hawke, the Chief of Tactics and Security, was first to arrive in the Observation Lounge, having turned over the Tactical Station to Gny. Khal'Gon, the massive hybrid Nausicaan-Klingon Marine, and taken his seat. . A moment later, his sister, LtJG Katarina Hawke, the Head Nurse, arrived. She was still very much surprised that she'd been included in a Briefing of the Senior Staff, but made her way to the Observation Lounge as directed and found her seat at the table. . In Sickbay, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala, the Chief Medical Officer (who held the rank of Lt. Cmdr.), finished up a few things and turned over Sickbay to his assistant, Dr. McIntyre, to make his way to the Briefing. And in Main Engineering, Lt. Cmdr. Bevin MacArdry, the Chief Engineer, performed a last check of the ship's systems before nodding to the Assistant Chief Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Riedinger to take over. . Meanwhile, the Captain exited his Ready Room, stepping out onto the Bridge. There he saw Lt. Cmdr. Jason Carter, the Chief of Flight Operations, confirming their synchronous orbit over the Water World was properly laid into the auto-pilot. Carter stood from his station to join the Captain.

. Also on the Bridge was Lt. Cmdr. Relok, the Chief Science Officer, who stood from the Primary Science Station and turned to an Ensign that was on the nearby Auxiliary Science Station. He said, "Ensign ... um ... Carshell, right? Call me if anything unusual shows up." . The Ensign, Jackson Carshell, was on his first Bridge rotation (even though he'd been working in the Science Labs ever since they'd left Deep Space Nine to begin their mission in the Gamma Quadrant). He answered simply, "Aye, sir." . Lt. Col. Travis Patterson, the Executive Officer and commander of the Marine Contingent of the Penumbra, entered the Bridge from the corridor, having come from the Hangar Bay. He nodded at the other senior officers and together, the four of them stepped into the Observation Lounge. . The Captain seemed slightly surprised to find the Hawke siblings had already arrived and said, "Oh, hello, you two!" Each of them stood and greeted the Captain, who nodded at them and waved them to return to their seats. . A moment later Lt. T'Lin, the Vulcan Assistant Chief of Sciences arrived and took her usual seat, placing her notebook and pencil on the table in front of her (she still preferred the archaic method of recording her observations). . Shadow and Bevin arrived and as Bevin took her seat, Shadow collected a tray of everyone's favorite drinks and placed it in the center of the table for people to grab for the meeting. Zak smelled the fresh coffee and gave a smile, "Thanks, Shadow." He lifted his cup and took a sip, "Ah, just right, too!" . Shadow smiled back, "Glad you like it, Cap." . T'Lin muttered half under her breath, "I would hope it was right, we have only heard you get it a hundred million times." . As Relok took his tea and settled into his seat he glanced at T'Lin. "You may be off a few orders of magnitude."

. Patterson tapped his (unlit) cigar as he settled into his seat. Kat glanced at the subconscious maneuver but merely quietly sipped her iced vanilla coffee and said nothing. Tabby and Carter arrived, collected their refreshments and took their seats. . At this point the Captain glanced around and said, "OK, that looks like everybody. So ... we have an interesting mission for us this time around." . Patterson smirked and quipped, "Sounds like the type of mission I do best." . Carter leaned forward, curious. "That's why we're in here and not elsewhere, Captain?" He was obviously wondering where he'd set his next set of coordinates. . Bevin asked in her heavy Scottish Brogue, "Caiptin, air thay gaein tae be haein is dae same prawnin o tha waildings?" She was wondering if they'd be "pruning" the Wild Growth. . The Captain continued, "The Ivorez has told us there's likely a large number of Kyrathian Colony Ships between us and their Homeworld ... a ... large ... number." . Relok asked, "Just how large a number, Captain?" . The Captain answered Bevin's question first. "That's a little further down the road than where we are right now, Bevin. Let's get there first and then we can see where we stand." . She replied, "Ailraight, sair, jist aiskin." . Then the Captain turned to Relok. "The Ivorez said there could be a hundred, or more, Colony Ships out there." . The Vulcan Chief of Sciences flushed a pale green. "A ... hundred ... Colony Ships, sir?" . Zak nodded and added, "And I don't need to tell you that we've had trouble dealing with one or two, three with Aslan help." . Bevin mused, "Hmm ... wandir iffin thay cawmmewnicait wi aich ithir thraw thair plaint nawds." She was referring to the Plant Nodes that T'Lin had managed to connect to a computer algorithm to translate Kyrathian Glyphs into Federation Standard. . Tabby grunted and said, "Lots of ships, lots of trouble, pain in the arse. What are we waiting for?"

. Zak glanced at Tabby, one eyebrow raised, "Let's back off a bit on the whole Klingon 'good day to die' thing, OK, Tabby?" . Tabby responded with "Hey! If I was ready to die I would have said something a long time ago." He scrunched his face up into an exaggerated pout. . Patterson ignored Tabby and nodded slowly, then said, "That's the issue we're having." He paused, gathering his thoughts, and then said, "Captain, if there's a hundred or more vessels, the Aslans lack our recon ability to pinpoint their weakest and most vulnerable flanks. I take it, once we ID the targets, they'll be in to take care of the fighting?" . Carter whistled. "I don't think even our sensors can track that many vessels at once ... then again, traffic at Deep Space Nine was pretty hectic." . Zak gave a little nod, confirming Patterson's assessment and then said for the benefit of the rest, "There's a tiny bit of good news, though. The Ivorez says they're spread out. That maybe we can find a spot where there's only a dozen or so to contend with." . Relok rolled his eyes. "Only a dozen, then. We should be fine!" . Hawke's tactical mind had already begun plotting. He said, "It should be okay. Have we picked where we're going to have the staging ground?" . Zak glanced at Hawke, "Well, there's the problem. The Ivorez has no idea how they're distributed. This whole 'weak spot' could be merely speculation on his part. And ... that's where we come in. . Kat had been listening carefully, then she cocked her head to one said and mused, "They siphon energy. Too bad we cannot alter the polarity of the shields to keep them from sensing us." . Then, Shadow keyed in on Bevin's earlier musing and asked, "What if we get T'Lin's algorithms to help remove some of the danger for us? She could possibly transmit false codes to the wildings to get them scattered all over the place." . Patterson said, "Shadow, Kat ... not bad ideas, actually."

. Kat looked at Patterson, surprised, thinking about what he said. She just smiled and gave a nod, glad she could help. . T'Lin commented, "I would have to look into it. I am not sure the current algorithm would work with the Swarm ships." . Then Patterson turned to the Helmsman, "Carter, on Condition Grey status and with power to the MIRAGE, how well can you maneuver us at impulse velocity with only atmospheric thrust?" . Bevin replied, "I dinna say whay nae, we kin tray tha, iffin ye waint, sair." . Carter raised an eyebrow slightly. "That'd be manual piloting only, Colonel, but I've docked freighters bulkier than this with only atmospheric thrust on umbilicals that were tumbling on all three axes. I think I can hold impulse velocity with atmospheric thrust alone." . T'Lin had been pondering the virus problem and said, " And while we DO have a piece of their plant tendril, it is quite old. If we could find a way to get me to a Node, it could work. . Patterson nodded, "T'Lin, if we were to take that plant tendril and launch it towards a Colony Ship, do you think it could survive the vacuum and potentially carry a virus that would be uploaded?" . But it was Tabby who answered first, "Possibly." Tabby was the ship's "computer expert", being the Chief Operations Officer. . Kat suggested, "I could probably reprogram some of my Borg nanites to protect the tentacle." . T'lin began furiously writing in her notebook and speaking even as she wrote. "Without a direct connection to a Node, it would only effect the tendrils, and they would have no use for a severed, old tendril." . Patterson drummed his fingers a moment and then said, "What if we force them to accept the old tendril, T'Lin?" . T'Lin shook her head. "Even if it would connect and upload the virus, what would we target that would not kill the tendril immediately?"

. Relok interjected, "We're making a few assumptions here about the old tendril. Their network doesn't necessarily work like our computers. We don't know if we can generate a 'computer virus' to work with the plant technology." . "Precisely," T'Lin agreed. . Relok shrugged, "But, it's an idea we should explore." . T'Lin consulted her notebook and said, "But sending them false messages could work. I did some math, and if I reverse the algorithm based on the information we got from them, it could work." . Tabby said, "We should at least test the theory in a simulation program before we try it in real time." . The Captain had sat quietly, watching as his crew brainstormed, formulating ideas. . Kat tilted her head slightly and then suggested, "What if we could just infect it not like a computer, but like insects on plant life? . Zak turned to look at Kat. "The Kyrathians are insects on plant life! And they have a whole class of their species dedicated to tending the damn plant to prevent that happening." . Kat continued, "Then use a different insect. Distract them and change the environment." . Bevin smirked and said, "Airmy aints waeld railly draive thaim bainainais." . T'Lin objected, "Any organic life is instantly destroyed and consumed by the Plant's Spores. No insect would survive." . Shadow smirked and murmured, "Well, there's always Round-Up, Agent Orange, and Rotenone." . Patterson glanced over at the Captain. "I wonder how good their Tenders are at countering man-made pesticides and insecticides. We've used them a few times before on them with decent effect."

. Relok pointed out, "Colonel, we've used bug bombs on plant infestations on Janidor, and those worked there, and we've used them via torpedoes into ships, but we've had no way of being able to judge their true effectiveness." . Suddenly Zak blurted out, "Oh! Almost forgot! I did speak with the Android. The Aslans will be there to help us, once we tell them where. With new toys! I like the ideas, folks, but ..." . T'Lin interrupted him to reminded everyone, "The Aslans think on a battlefield. They will simply disregard these ideas and use brute force. If we come up with any ideas, we have to be the ones executing them." . Zak turned to T'Lin. "That's true, but ... they're already learning from us. They've adapted Tabby's Bug Zapper, and Bevin's Montgolfier Balloons ... and ... they're building a Carrier full of Fighters! They're adapting." . T'Lin continued to stress her point. "And yet they still rely on brute force. Bug Zapper and the fighters are brute force. We are lucky they have used the balloons." . Bevin murmured, "I'd hait tae thaink wha tha Aislins waeld be lak iffin we gae thaim aill tha buiks an paipirs we hae an taiktics." She was surely speculating that if the Aslans had access to all the books, papers, and other articles on tactics in the Federation databases they would be formidable indeed. . Zak took a breath, let it out in a sigh and continued, "But our first priority is to find the damn Swarm and map out it's extents ... to find the thin spot to send the Aslans there. All these offensive measures should be sent to the Aslans to develop their assault plan." . Kat asked, "If we need to map it, why can't we hide behind their own signatures? Make our signatures match theirs? Then we can move freely through them." . T'Lin objected again, "Because their signatures are emotions, and colors, and telepathy. Even if we COULD they would detect all the sensitives."

. Shadow suggested, "We might need to introduce them to the idea of the Trojan Horse." . Patterson nodded, embracing the idea and formulating a game plan. "Carter, start practicing in the Holodeck on how well you can navigate this ship on Condition Grey with minimal output." . Carter grinned, "Colonel, you're still thinking in 3 dimensions. I can fly this ship at warp speeds in reverse if I had to." . Patterson blinked, staring at Carter a moment. "Not even gonna ask how, but I've seen you do some crazy things at the Helm." He turned to Hawke and continued, "Den, see if you can figure out a way to reduce the energy readings of our shields. Kat, your idea, you help your brother on that." . Hawke nodded, "Got it, and I think I may already have one, but I'd rather check it first." Kat glanced at her brother and nodded her acceptance as well. . Patterson turned to the doctor and continued, "Shadow, see if we can find out some form of aerosol we can use with that Merasha to give to the Aslans that may help scatter Kyrathian communications so our allies can get the upper hand." Shadow nodded, accepting his orders. . Tabby noticed Patterson glancing around and suggested his own course of action. "I'll continue to manage the ship's functions with power and communicational support, if and when it shall be needed." . T'Lin also suggested her own actions. "I will work on creating a new algorithm with the data we have on the Swarm plant, but it is not much." . After a moment T'Lin shrugged, "Did you know that you can make six types of poisonous teas from the plant? I do. Did you know one of their many Nobles loves iron fillings? I do." She was referring to her studies into the data on the old Plant Nodes, and to her eidetic memory that wouldn't let her forget those trivial details.

. She gave a sigh. "The data we have is useless. It is random drama and the opinions of 8-year-olds. To get anywhere, we need more data. I need access to another Node. We need some sort of station of theirs, like the first one. But," she sighed again, "that ended in the deaths of several crew members." . Shadow smiled weakly at T'Lin, "Sorry for putting this on you, T'Lin, but you're one of the best that could possibly do it." . There was silence a moment and then Patterson glanced around the table and said, "Alright, I think we've got a game plan." . The Captain nodded and said, "So, we have the MIRAGE, and it hides us pretty well, and Delta Flight have some cloaking abilities, and they're small. And, Colonel, you might could even put Cerberus in play, but ... I'd kind of like you here with me to assist in Command." . Patterson nodded, agreeing, "If it comes down to a necessity, Captain," he paused but then said, "But the fewer ships, the fewer signatures, and the easier it'll be to sneak by. It's why our Recon teams are kept so small in the Corps." . Zak nodded back at Patterson, "Right, so keep to the Penumbra and skim along the perimeter until we find the 'Weak Spot', then report that to the Aslans for their strike and we sneak through the hole." . Relok interjected, "T'Lin made a point earlier, reminding us of the Kyrathians' telepathy. We must remember their hive mind. If any one Kyrathian detects us, the entire Swarm will know where we are within minutes." . Shadow glanced between Relok, the Captain, and Patterson, and then said, "I'll get the Merasha ready for both us and the Swarm." . Relok turned to Shadow, "Shayana, remember to treat Tabby now, too ... he's exhibiting psychic abilities now." . Shadow smiled, "I know, being around Bevin has brought his latent ability into the active realm."

. "Well, flug," Tabby grumbled. Then he perked up and asked, "I wonder if we can come up with some sort of protectant shield of some sort to protect our Kyrathian friends from the Swarm, so they can help us out on their own terms. They would understand the what-fors better than any of us ever could." . Then Carter asked, "How many ships are the Aslans sending?" . Zak answered, "Good question, Carter. And the answer right now is, I don't know. Considering that the Aslans are committed to this war against the Swarm, I'd think they'd send dozens of ships of various classes." . Relok turned. "Captain, that brings up another interesting question. Do we know whether the Kyrathians can track our communication signals? Would they detect us calling our Aslan allies?" . Patterson rubbed his forehead. "Hmm...." . It was T'Lin who answered, "If it uses energy, probably. And the Independents cannot get close to the corrupted plant, or they will turn." . But Hawke said, "Those are easy to mask actually." . Tabby reminded them, "Well, we have the Mirasha to suppress our abilities. Could it work for them too?" . Shadow agreed. "Right, what would happen if their main communication suddenly went to Babel?" He paused then added, "I was thinking of something along the lines of equal parts LSD, Merasha, and maybe Miracle-Grow to cover up a secondary dose of Roundup for the wilding plant." . Tabby continued, "I mean, theoretically it could be plausible." . T'Lin said, "It sort of worked on Janidor. But we have not tested it on the actual plant." . Relok nodded, "T'Lin's right, and it's a telepathic bond native to their species, and their primary means of communication. We can't just cut it off." . Hawke continued his point, "There have been devices made and ways to block telepathic abilities, but I don't know if we could make something big enough."

. Relok insisted, "Den, you're not grasping the extent. It is their primary means of communication. Could you function if you suddenly lost your ability to speak to others of your kind? Maybe, but function well? No." . But Hawke persisted. "I'm not missing anything. To disrupt that in the Swarm is exactly the point. They won't know what to do with themselves." . Tabby reminded them, "We'd need to come up with a Plan B if Mirasha worked on the friendly Kyrathians. They'd need a backup to function." . T'Lin reminded again, "Either way, they cannot get close to the corrupted plant. Or," she paused, thinking, "I could teach them how to use the algorithm," she paused again then shook her head, "but it would be worthless." . Relok considered and then said, "Disrupting the Swarm's telepathy with Merasha, sure, but we can't use it on the friendlies, Tabby. That's what I was saying." . Then Tabby suggested, "They can wear a suit for the physical contact issue. It works for us; it should work on them." . T'Lin corrected him. "It is not a means of physical contact. It is chemical, and telepathic, and empathic. If they get anywhere near the corrupted plant they will turn." . Shadow agreed. "That's why it needs to be either us or the Aslans." . Tabby clarified, "I'm not saying screw our friends over, I'm trying to find ways to have them support us." . Hawke nodded, agreeing to Tabby's sentiment. Kat also nodded, listening quietly now as everyone threw ideas out. . T'Lin stressed again, "They cannot get close to it ... at all. And they have no information on the Swarm plants because they cannot get near them. If they get within X kilometers and our friends turn into enemies. Enemies that have had close contact with our technology." . Shadow explained it this way, "It's like a super case of chickenpox. Get within 100 m and break out in spots."

. There was silence a moment as they absorbed everything they'd discussed and then Zak turned to Patterson, "Could we capture a Swarm Colony Ship? Or at least ... board one?" . Patterson raised an eyebrow. "Can I get on it? Yes. Can we capture it? Maybe ... but ... it might be damaged, too." . T'Lin rolled her eyes and added, "Will we die? Probably." . Zak said, "Colonel, how about we try that first. Let's see if we can lure one to chase us, then get a team aboard and gather intel." . "Well," Patterson rubbed his chin, "the Cerberus can carry an 8-man team onboard, sir, but sacrificing a bit of armament, I can have her ready to carry an infil team in an hour." . The Captain nodded. "Let's work on a team to board a Swarm ship, we need more intel. Patterson, Hines, Den, Khal'Gon ... probably need a medic or doctor, and T'Lin, maybe even an Engineer?" . Patterson gestured around the table, "Me, Den, T'Lin, Shadow. Team 1. Hines, Khalgon, Davies, and Kyle will be on Team 2." . Zak ran his hands through his hair and let out a breath. "OK, so lots of ideas, but nothing solid yet until we know more. Patterson, gear up your team, everybody else, support the intel squad until we have more data to work with ... then we can go help the Aslans kick ass!" . Patterson looked at the Captain as he stood. "Aye, sir." He tapped his commbadge. "Master Guns," he addressed Hines in the Hangar Bay, "Get the Pathfinders ready to move out. You, Khalgon, Davies, and Kyle are to report to the Cerberus ASAP with your infil gear." . The gravelly voice of the big Marine came back, "Aye, sir." . Hawke stood as well. "Yes, sir," he answered Patterson. . "OK," the Captain said as he, too, stood. "Let's go to work, people." . T'Lin answered, "Understood," made a few last notations in her notebook, then closed it, stood and headed for the Bridge. . Carter nodded as well, standing and heading back to the Helm.

. Relok stood and turned to T'Lin. "Be careful over there, T'Lin. I like having a competent assistant." . T'Lin huffed at him, "I am more of your sister than your assistant, Relok." Bridge: . Meanwhile, on the Bridge, Ensign Jackson Carshel was virtually alone. Sure, there was Gny. Khal'Gon at the Tactical station, but the big Nausicaan-Klingon just stood there silently glowering over his station. With the Ops station on stand-by and the Helm on autopilot, both of those stations were empty. And with both the Captain and the Colonel in the Briefing, both command seats (as well as the unused Counselor's seat) were empty. And with MstGny. Hines, who often occupied the Recon Station, down in the Hangar Bay, there was nobody over there either. . Carshel scanned the console in front of him and muttered, "Holy moly! So much information to pick through! This is gonna be fun!" . After a few minutes of silence (and boredom) on the Bridge, he glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to him before whispering to himself, "That looks wrong ... and so does that but ... must ignore it." He didn't want to go messing around with Lt. Cmdr. Relok's station, or Lt. T'Lin's for that matter, though he had often "fixed" her work in their time together in the labs. "Meep," he muttered as he went ahead and fixed one ... little ... thing, "I can be useful too."

@everyone The Lates Sim Log Narrative is posted. Whew!