USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202008.07 ANNOUNCEMENT: . This is the tenth episode of Lt. Tibris' sim plot to aid the Ivorez and save the Wild Growth. It is beginning to diverge from Tabby's original plot suggestion/outline as the crew's actions and the Captain's ideas begin to chart their course. Bridge: . The Penumbra was cruising through interstellar space at a low warp, scanning for any sign of "the wall" of Kyrathian Swarm Colony Ships they'd been warned about, hoping to find a lone straggler they could send a boarding team into in order to gather some intelligence they could use to build a better plan to get past them to their Homeworld. . On the Bridge were Capt. Zak Taylor, pacing once again in the open space between the command seats and the Ops/Helm stations; Lt. Cmdr. Relok, hunched over the Primary Science Station carefully reviewing all of the sensor data for signs of Kyrathians; Lt. Cmdr. Jason Carter, quietly holding course at the Helm; the newly-promoted Lt. Cmdr. Tabeshk Tibris, watching the Operations console for any power fluctuations; Ens. Jackson Carshel, doing his second Bridge rotation manning the Secondary Science Console, studying more of the Kyrathian glyphs to try and fit them into their language database; and Ens. Filler, standing in for Lt. Denovan Hawke at the Tactical station. . The Captain turned to Relok and asked again, "Anything yet?" . The Vulcan Chief of Sciences took a breath as he glanced up, steadying himself as he answered, "Still nothing sir. And, sir, you may rest assured I will alert you as soon as I have something on sensors." . Zak cut a look at Relok before sighing. "All right, Commander, I get the hint." He resumed pacing, but only a moment later he turned to the Ensign at the Tactical station, "Filler, you have the MIRAGE on quick stand by?" . Filler checked his board and answered, "Aye, sir, ready on a moment's notice, sir."

. Suddenly Relok said, "Oh! Look at that! An interesting spacial anomaly on long-range scans! But ... that's not what we're looking for, is it?" . Zak paused in his pacing to glance back at Relok. "This isn't a science mission, Commander. But, you can log the coordinates for further study, if you like." . Relok turned to Carshel, "Log the coordinates at Bearing 032 Mark 15, Ensign." . Carshel mumbled, just barely loud enough to be heard, "Not like I'm not here to help for a reason, Mr. Relok." . Down in the Hangar Bay, Lt. Col. Travis Patterson sat at the controls of the Cerberus, ready to launch when they had an objective. He tapped the commlink and called, "Cerberus to the Bridge. Ready down here." . Zak tapped his commbadge, "Acknowledged, Colonel, just as soon as we have a target." . Relok's console beeped. "Huh? Oh, I've got something on long-range, sir. Carshel, give me more focus on Sensor Cluster .... Eight Starboard Dorsal." . The Captain froze in his pacing and stared expectantly at Relok. Carshel nodded, "Aye, sir," then muttered, "Gee, finally noticed me." . Relok studied the fuzzy image on the sensors, watching it gain more focus as Carshel made adjustments to the sensors. "That might be it, sir. Looks like a Colony Ship; trying to verify the glyph." . Filler at the Tactical station confirmed, "I have it now too, sir. Definitely Kyrathian outline." . Then Relok stated unequivocally, "There! It's the Swarm, sir! Solitary ship, best I can tell." . Zak nodded, his face set. "OK, people, let's go to work. Filler, sound Yellow Alert and engage MIRAGE." . Filler hit the alert button and the klaxon sounded and lights flashed yellow all around the Bridge. Then he announced, "MIRAGE engaging ... now!" He pressed the button and the Multiphasic Image Redirection And Graphics Emitters that was the MIRAGE system activated and obscured the Penumbra from any watching eyes.

. Carter said, "Dropping to maneuvering thrust only." He brought the helm to minimal power to help mask their signature. . Tabby added, "Everything is looking functional. I'll prime Bug Zapper if needed sir." . Then Carshel asked, "Any chance it's damaged or anything? Maybe we can use its tech?" . The Captain turned to Carshel, "If only we could be that lucky! I'll be happy if it truly is all alone!" . Carshel gave a nervous laugh, "Er ... just an idea. I was just thinking, if we want to stand a better chance, fight fire with fire. Use its own tech against it ... IF it's alone." He gave another nervous laugh. . Zak turned back to his Tactical Officer, "Filler, we need to confirm it's by itself. Quickly." . Filler answered, "Checking, sir." He scanned his board, then double-checked. "I think so. Don't see anything else around it, but ... sir, it is right on the edge of sensor range." . Zak grimaced a moment and then said, "It'll have to do." He tapped his commbadge, calling the Cerberus. "We found your target, Colonel. You are good to go, and Godspeed!" . Patterson's voice came back, "Acknowledged, Captain." . Zak flopped into the Command Chair. "Now we just hide and wait. I hate this part." . Having done his part with the sensors, Relok got up and moved to the XO seat and sat. "Aye, Captain," he agreed, "This is the hard part." . Carshel watched Relok move to the XO seat and muttered, "Now's my chance to ... be valuable." He slid over to the Primary Science Station. . Relok saw the move and said, "Ensign, you might want to get the best scans you can of that Swarm ship. And watch for anything else out there." . Carshel nodded, "Aye, sir." He took a quick look at the sensor feed, then transferred his work on the Kyrathian glyphs to that console as well, so he could continue that work while they waited.

. A commlink from the Cerberus opened and they heard Lt. Denovan Hawke, their Chief of Tactics and Security, singing a sea chanty. "Show me the way to go home, bum bum bum, I'm tired and I wanna go to bed. I had little drink about an hour ago and it went straight to my head. Where ever I may roam, bum bum bum, on land or sea or foam. You can always hear me singing this song. Just show me the way to go home." . They heard Patterson's voice say, "Always in good spirits, Den," and then the commlink closed. . Zak turned and said, "Carter, I know we can't see the Cerberus, but ... see if we can stay just inside transporter range, in case they need us in a hurry." . Filler added, "We can track that Swarm ship well enough, so we can stay close to it. Assuming they don't see us, that is." . Carter nodded, "Can't make any promises, but I'll keep us in range of that Colony Ship best I can. As long as we can keep the MIRAGE up, we should be able to stay in their shadow." . Zak leaned over closer to Relok, flicked his chin towards Carshel and whispered, "He's new up here, isn't he? He OK for the Bridge?" . Relok glanced at Carshel then whispered back to the Captain, "Better than he thinks or that we let him know." He gave the Captain a quick smirk. . Zak nodded and settled back in his seat to wait. Carshel gave the sensors a good hard look, thinking to himself, ~Oh my God! The Captain noticed me! Stay calm, Carshel, stay calm!~ . Down in the Hangar Bay, the Cerberus was catapulted out of the Flight Deck and quickly accelerated to maximum impulse and suddenly disappeared from sensors as Patterson engaged its metaphasic cloak. Filler was watching on the Tactical scan. He said, "Cerberus away, sir ... and gone!" . Zak heard the near panic in the young Ensign's voice and said, "That's how it's supposed to be, Mr. Filler. Let's hope she's invisible to them as well."

. Carter took careful note of his navigational screen and reported, "I've got the Cerberus' course projected, but ... damn that thing has NO subspace ripple or anything!" . Zak grumbled, "I still wonder how the hell Patterson got that little ship all to himself!" . Relok remarked, "I'm sure he'd tell you that if you knew, he'd have to kill you, or something like that." . Zak gave an exaggerated shudder, "Thanks for reminding me, Relok!" . Tabby was watching his own board long and hard. Suddenly he could be heard muttering a prayer in the Vulcan language - crisp, clear Vulcan. Though they knew he'd grown up on Vulcan, they hadn't heard him speak it. The prayer translated to Federation Standard as "Let the waters guide us through the tides of space and time. May we fight till our breaths run dry and our strength is feeble, oh Great Sehlat." . Relok raised an eyebrow at Tabby's prayer, then mumbled his own, "Great Sehlat, lend them your stealth." . Zak fidgeted. "Tabby, we have all the power we need to keep the MIRAGE going? Hate to have it fail now." . Tabby glanced at his board then answered, "Aye, sir, it's still holding on strong." . A moment passed and then Zak jumped up from his seat. "I need coffee." . Relok calmly said, "Captain, might I suggest decaf ... I don't think you need more nervous energy." . Zak paused and glared at Relok a moment, then his face softened and he smiled. "Maybe I should do decaf." He stepped up to the replicator and ordered, "Coffee, decaf, black, sweetened." . A call came over the internal comm system from Lt. Cmdr. Bevin MacArdry in Main Engineering, her strong Scottish Brogue barely understandable, "Caiptin, ait mait be a guid ideea tae gae tae mainimim pawir sae we kin hae mair whain we naid ait." . The suggestion to go to minimum power so they'd have it when needed was a good one. Zak tapped his commbadge, "Acknowledged." Then he turned to his Chief of Operations, "Tabby, minimal power signature."

. Tabby nodded in acknowledgement and set the systems to utilize minimal power, turning off unnecessary functions. . Carter nodded, then tapped his own commbadge calling Engineering, "How quick can we do a warm startup on the warp core? Can we run MIRAGE on secondary power?" . But before he got an answer, Carshel mumbled, "What is that?" He leaned closer to the console and then said, "Captain ... we got company!" . The Captain had just retrieved his coffee from the replicator. He blew steam off the hot coffee and took a careful sip as he turned, "Hmm?" . Filler joined in, "Um, Carshel is right, there's something else out there!" . Carshel confirmed, "There's more than the one! I can't tell what it is, but ... there's something." . Zak choked on his second sip of coffee. He sputtered and spilled hot coffee onto the floor. "W-what?" . "Definitely something out there," Carshel said again. . Filler nodded, "Um, yeah ... there's another blip following that first one, right on the edge of sensor range." . Relok stood and moved to stand over Carshel's shoulder. "Show me, Ensign." . "Right there," Carshel pointed at his display at the blip. . Zak moved to Carshel's other shoulder, momentarily forgetting the coffee cup in his hand. . Carshel grew intimidated by two of the most senior officers on the ship standing over his shoulders. He mumbled, "It looks ... like a ship ... to ... me." As he said it he was slowly slinking down in his chair, apparently hoping to slip under the console and disappear. . The Captain looked at the display and then lifted his face and said, "Carter, get us a little closer so we can see better. Just ... a little." . Carter nodded, "We're on maneuvering thrusters. Turning the drift stabilizers off means we can accelerate, but ... we're gonna slide around like we're a puck on an air hockey table." . Zak stared at him a moment, "Aren't you supposed to be the best pilot in the Fleet or something like that? Just do it!"

. Carter smiled a second, "And now I know you trust me, since you're no longer questioning if I can, sir!" With a chuckle, he kicked the thrusters on. . Filler was intently studying his Tactical board as Carter nudged the ship over. "Come on, come on," he mumbled. . Carshel continued to slide down in his seat, trying to slip away from the Big Bosses at his shoulders. Slowly the blip on Carshel's sensor feed, and on Filler's Tactical board gained higher resolution. Carshel muttered, "Yep, definitely a ship." He kept sliding down in his chair, millimeter by millimeter. . Finally, Zak put a hand on one of his shoulders and said softly, "Easy, Ensign, you were trained for this. Hold your post." . Carshel looked up at the Captain, "Oh, that isn't the problem, sir. I just ... don't do people and ... physical contact." He glanced at the hand on his shoulder. Zak lifted it quickly without a word. . Suddenly, Filler called out, "Got it! Yep, definitely a Kyrathian Colony Ship, sir. And ...," he paused, scanning his board before announcing, "It's got the Swarm glyph!" . "Damn it!" Zak cursed. "And no way to contact the Cerberus without compromising their mission!" He paused only a moment before calling out, "Filler, sound Red Alert. Shields up, but keep that damned MIRAGE up!" . Filler hit the alarm and the klaxon sounded and the yellow lights flickered to red. Carshel pulled himself back up in his chair as an idea hit him. He said, "What if we shot a focused beam at that ship and rip it from the inside out. Like a plasma beam phaser lazer thingy." . Relok answered, "Can't do that without risking the Cerberus, Ensign." He turned to the Captain. "They've got to have seen it. Patterson will find a way." . Carshel continued his idea, "So, make the beam transparent." . Carter was the one who answered this time. "If one of those ships were to suddenly combust, it would put the other on high alert, and spoil their surprise. We just can't risk it."

. Zak headed back to his seat as he said, "Carter, put us in a position we can assist the Cerberus if needed. Filler, stand by all weapons but hold, got it?" . Suddenly, Relok turned to Tabby, "Tabby, you've taken a dose of Merasha? I've had mine." . Tabby blinked, confused. "Merasha? Should I?" . Relok reminded him, " Commander ... you are a telepath now, remember? The Kyrathians can hear you." . "Yeah," Tabby remembered, "My head started to hurt last time, so I kinda have to, don't I, until I am trained." Main Engineering, Sickbay, and Turbolift: . Dr. Shadow K'Trevala was in Sickbay, wrapping a few last-minute items before he reported to the Cerberus for the Away Mission. . LtJG Katarina Hawke, the Head Nurse, moved busily around Sickbay. She always found the security of the quiet space to be far easier to deal with than the Auxiliary Medical Station on the Bridge. She was organizing supplies and taking inventory that Dr. K'Trevala might need and didn't have in stock at the moment. . Shadow handed a tray of Merasha boosters to Kat, in case they needed them against the Kyrathian Swarm and its Wild Growth, and stepped to the lab where they were working on Merasha-based bombs and "Miracle-Gro" for the Wild Growth. . Kat handed the boosters to a medical technician and followed Shadow into the lab. "Need help? she asked. . "Sure," Shadow answered. "We need to add the Merasha to more of the Miracle-Gro formula to use on the Wild Growth plant. Hopefully, this will discombobulate all their communications over there." . Kat reached for more Merasha and brought it over, "Oh, I see, because the Merasha blocks telepathy, right?" Then she asked, "So, why do you add it to the Miricle-Gro, wouldn't it help the Swarm?"

. Shadow explained, "The Miracle-Gro is the carrier to also handle some herbicidal materials, so it will recognize the Miracle-Gro first before realizing we 'slipped a major Mickey ' in there at the same time." He grinned at her. "Think about how much bedlam we'd have here without communications." He'd stressed the "here" as he gestured around Sickbay, and the Penumbra in general. . Kat nodded, "Definitely wreak havoc!" She grinned back. . "Precisely," Shadow nodded. "Who knows, it may spread to the other ships of the Swarm as well?" . Kat nodded back, then went thoughtful. "And if they can't' communicate, they might fall apart long enough for us to do what we need to right?" . "Now you're getting it," he smiled. Then he said, "I'm going to have to get to the Puppy," he used a slang term knowing that "Cerberus" was the "Hound of Hades" in Greek mythology. "Thanks so much for your help." He gathered up the 'presents' for the Kyrathians and headed for the Hangar Bay. . Kat nodded again and went back to what she was doing. As she did, though, she sent a message to her brother over their residual Borg interlink, ~Stay safe, Denovan.~ . His response was almost immediate, though no-one but Kat could hear it, ~Usually do, sis.~ . She tapped a finger against her lower lip and counted supplies in the cabinets so she wouldn't worry about her brother. . Meanwhile, in a Turbolift en route between one of the many Science Labs and the Hangar Bay, Lt. T'Lin was running through the distinct "dialect" of the Kyrathian glyphs she'd originally downloaded from the Swarm Station what seemed like years ago. At the time, the glyphs had no meaning, just seemingly random shapes and colors and "sensations".

. But with the breakthrough with the Ivorez glyphs and the Independents, and with the gift of T'Lin's eidetic memory that allowed her to recall nearly exactly everything she'd seen or read, she was quickly forming a vocabulary for Swarm glyphs to use on their current mission. . In Main Engineering, Lt. Cmdr. Bevin MacArdry was working to keep the engines, shields, and weapons in optimal form. And, as usual, she kept a running audio-visual feed from the Bridge so she could keep tabs on everything going on. . When the klaxon sounded and the lights showed Yellow Alert, she knew they'd found a Swarm ship. Then she saw the power levels flicker as they engaged the MIRAGE system. She flipped a few switches here and there in order to optimize the flow of power up to Operations on the Bridge. . They dropped out of warp as Carter put the ship into maneuvering thrusters only and Bevin backed off the main warp engines. A few minutes later, she saw the sudden power burst as the catapult flung the Cerberus off into space. . She called the Bridge in her thick Brogue, "Caiptin, ait mait be a guid ideea tae gae tae mainimim pawir sae we kin hae mair whain we naid ait." . His voice came back, "Acknowledged." And Bevin knew that Tabby had taken the ship to a minimal power signature. . Carter called, "How quick can we do a warm startup on the warp core? Can we run MIRAGE on secondary power?" . She had opened her mouth to answer, but then she heard Carshel say, "Captain ... we got company!" . She watched the monitor closely until the klaxon sounded again and the lights changed to Red Alert. She readied the ship for battle, and then reached for her booster of Merasha to hide her telepathic presence from the Kyrathians. Cerberus: . In the Hangar Bay, the Cerberus was prepped for a reconnaissance mission. Patterson had selected two teams to board a Swarm ship to try to gain some "actionable intelligence" on the Swarm.

. Team One was composed of Lt. Col. Patterson in command; Dr. Shadow K'Trevala to provide both medical services and to have a strong telepath if needed; Lt. T'Lin, who was a skilled Science Officer and a highly trained Vulcan warrior from her tribe in N'Ereon on Vulcan, a Dvir, as well as the one who had developed the interface with the Kyrathian plant-based technology and their communication algorithm for their glyphs; and Lt. Denovan Hawke, their ex-Borg Starfleet Chief of Tactics and Security. . Team Two would be all Marines and consisted of MstGny. Derek Hines, Gny. Khal'Gon, SSgt. William Davies, PFC Homer Kyle, all members of the elite Pathfinder squad, and each a specialist in specific duties related to gaining and securing a "beach-head" on reconnaissance missions. . All of the Marines were wearing their specially reinforced Combat Armor that was resistant to the Kyrathian Plant Spores that would dissolve organic materials. Den and the other Starfleet personnel would wear Biosuits designed and manufactured by Lt. Cmdr. Bevin MacArdry and Dr. K'Trevala that were modified EVA suits that would serve the same function. . Patterson had been forced to make modifications to the Cerberus for this mission. Originally, the small ship was designed for one pilot (Patterson) and four passengers, with room for two "emergency passengers" if needed. This meant a "maximum occupancy" of seven people, total. But, for this mission, they were sending eight. . So, they had removed the regular "comfortable seats" and installed benches along the walls to allow for seating of a 4-man crew on the starboard side and 3-man crew on the port side (to allow for the hatch). Patterson's pilot seat was left front-center.

. The Marines, as well as the Chief Tac/Sec, were milling around outside the craft in the Hangar Bay until the orders were given to launch. Den was doing a personal weapon check, in case things got down to hand-to-hand combat, and muttering to himself, "What else, what else?" going through a mental checklist. He specifically left the Marines to do their own checks, he knew they knew what they were doing. Finally he said to himself, "Okay, everything is locked and loaded." . Patterson was aboard the Cerberus, doing all the pre-flight checks. As he completed the checks, he opened a commlink to the Bridge. "Cerberus to the Bridge. Ready down here." . The Captain's voice came back, "Acknowledged, Colonel, just as soon as we have a target." . The Marines filed aboard, two enormous men and two normal sized ones. Khal'Gon, the Nausicaan-Klingon was seven feet tall and Hines was six-six. Davies and Kyle seemed small in comparison. They arranged themselves on the 4-man bench across from the hatch. . Den stuck his head in. "Where you want me? Already did weapons check for everyone, Colonel." . Patterson spun his chair and looked back over his shoulder. He shook his head with a wry smile, "Gonna be a bit cramped with the conversion for personnel, but I don't want to sacrifice on firepower if we need to make a hasty getaway, so ... for all I could care, find a seat that isn't taken or sit on the floor. Just be prepared for a potentially bumpy ride." He gave a smirk and turned back to the helm. . As Den climbed aboard he said, "I figured that, sir, given the benches. I meant at the only secondary station left to actually sit at, or ...," he trailed off. . Patterson chuckled, "Yeah, go ahead and take the backseat, Hawke. Hopefully we won't have to shoot anything." . Den shrugged, "I'll try not to." He moved over to take his seat, scanning the craft. "All good here."

. Dr. K'Trevala and T'Lin arrived almost at the same time and approached the Cerberus. T'Lin peeked in and asked, "How are we?" Seeing the others already inside, she and the doctor climbed in and took their seats beside Den. . T'Lin immediately put her face back into her PADD, trying to re-absorb everything she knew about the Swarm's written language and how to interface with their plant-based Wild Growth technology. . Shadow quickly passed around Merasha-based grenades to be used to disrupt the telepathic communication of the Swarm, as well as the herbicidal agents to fight off the Wild Growth and its Spores. . Suddenly, Den stiffened slightly, listening to something only he could hear. Over his residual Borg interlink, he heard his sister's voice. LtJG Katarina Hawke called to him, ~Stay safe, Denovan.~ . His face showed a slight smirk as he sent back his response, ~Usually do, sis.~ . Not long afterward, a call came from the Captain, "We found your target, Colonel. You are good to go, and Godspeed!" . Patterson responded, "Acknowledged, Captain." He turned his chair to address Hines and the other three Marines. "You got the party-pooper?" . Hines smirked and patted the magnetic shell on the back of his armor. "Yep. The Mother-In-Law is all too furious being locked inside a suitcase." . Patterson checked over his team. "All right. Hawke, Shadow, T'Lin ... Hines, Khalgon, Davies, Homer. All in. Ready in the back? Here we go." He sent the signal to the Launch Bay operator to engage the catapult. . Den said, "All good! But, I think the Bridge needs a waiting song, Colonel." He paused, opened a commlink, took a breath and began to sing, "Show me the way to go home, bum bum bum, I'm tired and I wanna go to bed. I had little drink about an hour ago and it went straight to my head. Where ever I may roam, bum bum bum, on land or sea or foam. You can always hear me singing this song. Just show me the way to go home."

. Patterson smiled beneath his helmet and mumbled, "Always in good spirits, Den." He closed the commlink and set the intercept course to the Swarm ship, then gave AEGIS, the Cerberus' on-board Artificial Intelligence, the autopilot before turning once more to face his team and lay out their mission. . "All right, mission is pretty simple. First objective is to cover T'Lin as she hacks into the node. Once we begin the hack, they're gonna know we're there, so 2 minutes in and out. If we can take the ship, great, but if not ... that's why Hines has the Mother-In-Law. We'll blow their propulsion apart. If their ships have any similar layout to that of the Ivorez ... we can take the entire plant down with our little party-pooper." . Shadow commented, "We should also kick around a few of the plant bombs and the like. They are Merasha impregnated and could cause even more confusion for the bugs." . Patterson said, "If and when they find out we're onboard ... we'll set off the fireworks." Everyone nodded, understanding. Then he asked, "Questions?" . T'Lin shook her head, "None here, Colonel." . But Den spoke up, "Actually, I do. Who's staying on here just in case?" . The onboard AI, AEGIS, answered, "Naturally, Lieutenant Hawke, I am." . Den lifted his chin to address the AI, "Other than you." . Patterson looked around the teams then said, "Nobody else is staying back on the Cerberus. This will be our exfil point, and we'll fall back to the first corridor we breach as our rendezvous. We need everyone on their roles. Hawke, you and I are security for T'Lin and Shadow. Hines and his team will sneak into their engineering bay, for lack of a better term, and rig charges. Just can't afford to keep anyone in reserve." . Den scowled a moment and then gave a quick nod. "All right. Noted." . Suddenly AEGIS interrupted. "Secondary vessel on sensors. Possible escort."

. Patterson said, "All right, let's scan both ships. Find out which one has fewer lifesigns and see if we can't steal it." . Den said, "I'll work with you, AEGIS, on those scans." . Then Patterson rubbed his fingers together a moment and said, "Everyone up for a little piracy?" . T'Lin grinned, "Space Pirates!"