USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202101.08 Announcement: . This is the seventh sim in T'Lin's story plot (and it's starting to get serious). Introduction: . The Penumbra was in still in orbit above the Mirror Universe version of the Kyrathian Homeworld. Damage Control Teams were trying to wrap in the installation of replacement parts to the dorsal starboard nacelle and all engines remained offline for the process. . An Away Team was down on the surface. They had been attacked by Kyrathian "mind slaves" of the Evil Vine (the Mirror Universe version of the Ivorez), and then cut off from their air support by an apparently impenetrable force shield. . After a harrowing fight, the Away Team had managed to regroup inside a small building, but even that wasn't safe and they had been forced to withdraw into a long tunnel. They had destroyed the entrance to that tunnel and could only hope there would be a way out at the other end. . The Away Team was hoping to get into a large, three-story structure which sensors showed housed some kind of strong antimatter fusion reactor, but it was engulfed in the Evil Vine, and patrolled by more than a hundred of the telepathically-enslaved Kyrathians. . The Penumbra had attempted to connect with the Away Team through the residual Borg interlink shared between LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke and his sister, Lt. Katarina Hawke, by having the Artificial Intelligence called MAX tie into the link and use it to find the unique signal identifier of Den's interlink. . They had also used the powerful Warp Accelerated Railgun Drivers installed on Patterson's private ship, the Cerberus (which was not itself flightworthy after the battle with the Golem Cain's Romulan Warbird), by aligning the Penumbra using maneuvering thrusters and shooting through the open Hangar Bay doors at the powerful shield to punch a tiny hole.
. Hopefully, the hole would allow them to beam down some supplies before the Vine could recover and seal the breach. They wouldn't risk trying to beam up the team, but they could at least send them a resupply. . Now, the Away Team consisting of several Marine Pathfinders (LtCol. Travis Patterson, MstGny. Derek Hines, Gny. Khal'Gon, and LCpl. Homer Kyle) and a few Starfleet Officers (LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala, LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris, Lt. T'Lin, and Ens. Jackson Carshel) had found some kind of computer control room and were trying to decipher the strange writing (which was definitely NOT the Kyrathian glyphs they had learned to translate). . On the Penumbra, Capt. Zak Taylor, LtCmdr. Relok, LtCmdr. Jason Carter, and Lt. Katarina Hawke, along with the AI, MAX, were on the Bridge trying to figure out how they could help the Away Team. Resupply: . Capt. Zak Taylor looked over at the greenish image of the Artificial Intelligence known as MAX, who was normally a distinct blue color, and asked, "Did it work?" . MAX sent the telepathic signal over the interlink, ~Mr. Hawke, did the supplies reach you?~ . Down in the control room beneath the strange complex engulfed in the Evil Vine and patrolled by telepathically enslaved Kyrathians, T'Lin was plugged into a console scanning for all she was worth to try to decipher the strange language. Tabby was underneath the console, a panel open and several wires spliced together with a Universal Translator linked in. Beside T'Lin, Carshel also studied the strange runes, the sides of his face and the collar of his uniform stained with blood leaking from his ears that had been damaged from the explosion of nearby grenades and the booming resonance of the various attacks on the Vine's powerful shield.
. Patterson, Hines, Den, and Khal'Gon were dragging whatever they could find to build some sort of barricade across the tunnel entrance. They could hear crashing noises and grunting coming from the tunnel as the Kyrathians began to advance on their position. Patterson called out, "We're running out of time." . On the other side of the room, Kyle checked the barricade at the opposite door and reported, "Tight as Dick's hat band!" . MAX's telepathic voice sounded in Den's head again, ~Mr. Hawke, did the supplies reach you?~ . ~Hold on,~ Den sent back. He looked around, "Have those supplies gotten here yet?" He slowly, very slowly, pushed to stand, his body over-taxed from injuries and adrenaline. Suddenly, a shimmer is heard as a pallet of materials beams into the chamber behind him. "Nevermind," Den said, "I see them." He sent a message back to MAX, ~Yes, they're here, thank you.~ . Hines glanced over his shoulder, "There it is. Khal'Gon, Kyle, get loaded!" . "Gots it, Big'Un!" Kyle called back as he and the Klingon-Nausicaan hybrid scrambled for ammo. . "Well," Patterson said, nodding at Hines and Den, "At least we're not fighting hand-to-hand." . Kyle gave a visible shudder at the idea of fighting the huge Kyrathian Gatherers hand-to-hand. . T'Lin called from her console, "Colonel, these glyphs are not Kyrathian in nature. Some similarities but it is like a totally different system of vocabulary!" She shook her head then called, "Tabeshk, can you plug in using this plug? I could use some assistance with this computer." . Tabby slid out from under the console and leaned over her, "Yeah, I'll help, but ... I might need you to be my ears. I can't seem to hear high-frequency noises. What I mean by that is things like static, I cannot hear it."
. Shadow collected some of the medical supplies from the pallet and moved to do some "quick fixes" on the organic injuries of Carshel, Tabby, and Den. He couldn't do much for the internal damage to Carshel's or Tabby's ears, or the bionics of Den's arm, but he'd do what he could otherwise. . Den asked, "I don't suppose there's an engineering kit in there? I can see about fixing my arm since we have a slight lull at the moment." . Bevin grabbed the engineer's kit and moved to Den's side to see what they could do for his artificial arm. . "Thank you, Bevin," Den said, sitting down and opening the kit. Drawing a Line: . On the Penumbra, Zak asked frantically, "MAX, Kat? Did we get supplies through? Relok, anything from the Vine?" . Kat answered with a sigh, "Yes, Captain, the supplies made it." . Relok let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as MAX confirmed, "Yes. The supplies have reached the appropriate coordinates and have been received." His greenish face turned back to Kat. "Please remove your tubules from my pedestal." . Kat retracted the Borg nanotubes and stepped back, a wave of relief washing over her. She stumbled slightly as she returned to the Auxiliary Medical Station, but no-one noticed as she sat and put a hand to her forehead silently. . In the control room, they finally managed to get some translations as T'Lin reads, "Unidentified biocontaminant in Main Core Chamber." She straightened and mumbled, "Biocontaminant? Hmm ...." . The noises down the tunnel grew louder, grunting and crashing and chittering as the Kyrathians rushed closer. . Den froze with the engineering kit open beside him, then closed it and set it aside as he said, "Damn, I may not have time to mess with it." He set the kit up as a prop for his phaser rifle even as he switched the weapon off of sniper mode.
. Patterson took a slow, deep breath and loaded a fresh battery for his WAR rifle. "All right," he said, "Nothing makes it into this room. Nothing." . Hines looked at the Colonel, gave a grim nod and loaded his WAR shotgun. "Best be getting' some shore-leave on Risa when we get back," he quipped. . At the noises, T'Lin snapped her head towards the tunnel, her own warrior instincts flaring, but she turned back to the console, frantically trying to translate the language. . Tabby also flinched towards the sounds of approaching enemies, his Klingon blood starting to heat up. "T'Lin," he said, "I have to help with the defense, you good here?" . T'Lin grunted, "Yes, I will be fine. Check on the others on your way." She gave a chin-point specifically at Carshel, who seemed oblivious staring at the console. He couldn't hear the growls and scrapes of the rushing Kyrathians coming up behind them. He'd been terrified earlier, then grew calm, as if zoning out. . "Understood," Tabby said, then gestured at one of the displays, "Hey, that power conduit is generating a heck of a lot more power, by the way." . "Thank you, Tabeshk," T'Lin said, "I will look into it." She turned to Carshel and said, "Carshel, I need you to think like a scientist and not as a scared child!" But ... he didn't hear her and still stared at the monitor, oblivious. Defenders: . At the barricade, Den spoke to Patterson. "I've got the back-end ones, if you all can take care of the front runners, which I'm sure know they are cannon fodder." . As Tabby started to move up to the barricade, Khal'Gon turned and barked at him, "You're not a soldier. We'll fight. You do whatever it is you do with wires." . Before Tabby could respond, T'Lin said, "Khal'Gon, he is just as much a soldier as you are. Same as me. We fight until the last breath, together. No exceptions." . Tabby growled at Khal'Gon, "Try me, Khal'Gon! I'll show you a soldier."
. T'Lin calmly said, "Let us save the anger for our REAL enemies, please." . Den ignored the Klingons' blustering and gestured as he said, "We also could move some of these containers to farther make a choke point." . Kyle glanced at Den then nodded, "I's on it, Chief!" and quickly started moving crates around. . Den settled his rifle against his right shoulder. He was keeping the magnification on only 1.5x for mid-range shots as he said, "Check your fire everyone, once this starts." . Bevin checked her packs and verified she still had a half-dozen "bug bombs" to use against the Kyrathians as Tabby shoved his way past Khal'Gon to join the defense at the barricade. . Shadow checked his pack as well and produced a couple handfuls of "bug-bombs". "Any of you front-liners want some bug bombs?" Khal'Gon collected a replacement WAR assault weapon from the pallet and positioned himself to provide the most accurate high-volume fire. He grunted, "We all fight, we all die. We get the people who are trained on computers to figure out a way to shut that shield down and we MIGHT live." Then he grunted and muttered, "Either option is fine by me." . Tabby glared at him, then sighed. "I don't mean to start a fight with you, Khal'Gon. I may be a computer geek as my chosen job but I am the heir to my father's household. More importantly, I have friends I care for and a soon-to-be wife for which I care deeply. If I don't fight what kind of a man am I?" . Hines eyed the two Klingons, then turned to the Vulcan science officer, "T'Lin, crack the code. Once you've got it, Tabby, you're the best bet we've got in hacking that computer." . Carshel was still staring at the monitor and questioning himself. He mumbled, "Did I hear 'hacking'? It's sort of washed out." He thought to himself, ~Why in the hell would they want to hack?~
. T'Lin pulled herself from the computer, her two "souls" obviously warring within her. She announced, "I am D'Vir first, scientist second." She pulled her rifle to her shoulder, but, as she did, she noticed something peculiar about one wall. She touched it gingerly, then cautiously pressed it. . Suddenly, a secret door popped open with a 'whoosh' sound, and the noise of the advancing Kyrathians strangely stopped cold. . Den noticed the Kyrathians had stopped their advance. "What the ...? Why'd they stop?" Lightning Strikes: . Kyle did a chin-point as he moved a crate, " Hey, y'all ... ain't that there a new door?" . Tabby turned and said, "Hey look! A door!" . "Tunnel!" T'Lin called, "You all owe me a coffee." . Bevin responded, "Nae priblim! An tha cake tae gae wi ait, T'lin!" . Tabby moved past her and said, "I'll buy you that coffee, T'Lin. Shall we investigate?" . Patterson looked to his left at the tunnel, then said, "Khal'Gon, hold the rear. Hines, Kyle, take point and check that door. Move!" . Shadow handed the offered bug-bombs to Khal'Gon and moved towards the tunnel, standing beside T'Lin and Tabby at the door. . Hines nodded at Patterson, lifted his weapon, and moved into the tunnel, shoving past both T'Lin and Tabby. . Tabby feigned injury, "Oof! Hines, watch the head, please!" He huddled next to T'Lin as the Marines shoved past. . Hines glanced at Kyle coming up behind him, "Set. Kyle?" . The secret door had opened onto an access tunnel that was basically a "Jeffries tube" that led further into the facility. But ... warning buzzers and lights appeared on their biosuits and combat armor indicating dangerously high radiation levels. Hines clicked his teeth. "Hmm ... this is a problem," he said.
. Meanwhile, high above them in orbit, the sensors of the Penumbra detected a sudden rise in energy levels just before a huge blast of plasma energy hurtled from the area of the Vine's shield headed straight for the Penumbra. . With deft fingers, Carter executed an evasive roll, even though the ship had no engines with the repairs going on with the nacelle and he only had maneuvering thrusters. Several workers and their workerbee craft were either flung off or left stranded by the sudden movement. . Zak shouted over a ship-wide comm link, "Incoming! Brace for impact!" . And the lightning bolt of plasma hit the ship's shields and rippled harmlessly across them. Only ... the workers and their workerbees that had been stranded were caught in the blast and were instantly vaporized! Between the blast and the sudden roll, not to mention loss of personnel, the repairs to the nacelle were set back at least another day. . As the ship stabilized, Zak barked out, "Kat, Carter, Relok ... what's the damage from that lightning? Where the hell is our Team? Talk to me, people!" . Carter looked back over his shoulder. "Captain, we've lost two of the workerbees." . Relok shook his head as he reported, "Gonna put repairs back about a day or two ... beyond that I don't know yet." . "Damn it!" the Captain cursed. " What about our people out there? Any word?" . Relok looked up from where he'd been checking the arm panel of the XO's chair. With the characteristic lack of emotion of the Vulcans he reported, "Just received a report, Captain. We lost 4 workers and 2 workerbees." . The Captain slumped in his seat. "Damn." After a moment he pulled himself back up and said, "But, our supplies went through, and we expected the Vine to retaliate. Relok, get us a status update on the Away Team. They need to show some progress or we need to get them the hell out of there." Access Tunnel:
. As the plasma beam arced out towards the Penumbra, T'Lin and Shadow both flinched as though in pain. T'Lin actually clutched at her head. . Tabby, standing right beside T'Lin, turned to her, "T'Lin, what's wrong?" . T'Lin straightened, lowering her hands and answered, "I am ... unbalanced and it is painful." She entered the corridor behind Hines and Kyle. Tabby looked concerned, but merely followed her into the tunnel. . Den, Khal'Gon, and Bevin still held the barricade as Patterson pulled off and headed for the tunnel. Carshel still stood staring at the computer monitor with Shadow standing behind him. . Den closed his eyes for just a moment, then shook his head trying to shake off the fatigue from his wounds. "I think I need a stimulant and coagulant ... or just ... burn these wounds closed." . Shadow made a quick pass with a dermal regenerator to help close the worst cuts as they turned towards the access tunnel. . Patterson poked his head into the tight tube and called, "Whaddya got, Derek?" . Hines called back, "Not sure 100% just yet, but ... radiation levels in here are lethal, boss." . Then the strange runes of the foreign language began to flicker, being overwritten by the recognizable Kyrathian glyphs. Carshel noticed and said, "What the hell?" He watched them a moment, then called, "T'Lin!" . T'Lin retreated from the tube, squeezing past Patterson to return to the computer, reading out the glyphs for the team. The glyphs read, "You cannot survive. Flee and I will let you escape. Advance and die!" She paused, then stated, "It is afraid of us going further." . As she said this, they heard the Kyrathians begin moving again, but slower ... much slower. Then they saw the access tunnel door start to slide closed! . T'Lin called, "The door is closing! Quick!" She grabbed Den and nearly dragged him towards the tunnel.
. "Oww!" Den complained, even though the help was appreciated. He made sure he brought the engineering kit, and a medkit, from the supply pallet as they passed. "Thanks," he murmured to T'Lin. . "Damn it!" Carshel cursed, finally beginning to come out of his panic-induced catatonia. "Time for me to bring out my ... uh ... questionable knowledge." He pried open a panel and began doing his own hot-wiring. . Suddenly, the closing door stopped. Apparently, Carshel's hot-wiring had stopped it, but now, red warning lights were all over the place on the nearby computer screens. . T'Lin waved, "Everybody in! Now!" She turned to her assistant, "Carshel, good job." . Carshel glanced at the door, "Oooh, so THAT'S what that does. Neat!" He moved past T'Lin into the tunnel. As he passed, he muttered to T'Lin, "So, uh, can we not ask about how the hell I can hotwire and hack? It's best to remain unknown. It's not exactly legal." . T'Lin just stared at him, expressionless, as Patterson stood from the tunnel and turned to call, "Khal'Gon, give them a volley and let's move. Everyone into the tunnel! Now!" . Khal'Gon nodded, locked the bolt back, and let it slam forward as he grinned before tossing a bug bomb and cutting loose rapid-fire WAR rounds down the corridor. "Come and get it!" he shouted at the Kyrathians. . Den took a moment to send his sister (and MAX if he was still online with them), ~So, an update. Some side door opened, no clue where it goes, but ... we're in it.~ Tight Squeeze: . The entire Away Team hurriedly crammed themselves into the small access tunnel. In the main tunnel beyond the control room they heard the Kyrathians screaming in pain and confusion from the WAR rounds and bug-bombs Khal'Gon had given them before withdrawing. Shadow, ever the compassionate one, sent a soft prayer for the souls of Kyrathians who they'd been forced to kill. Well, assuming they had souls, that is.
. But just as the Patterson shoved the big Klingon-Nausicaan hybrid into the access tunnel and then squeezed in behind him, whatever hot-wiring Carshel had done to keep the hatch open finally failed and the door slid shut. . Patterson's feet were against the rear door. Just in front of his face were Khal'Gon's feet, the big Klingon-Nausicaan's back and head were pressed against the ceiling as he crawled. In front of Khal'Gon was T'Lin, Carshel, Shadow, Bevin, Den, Tabby, Kyle, and finally, Hines, his own back and head nearly brushing the ceiling as well. Hines was in the far end of the tightly-packed tube just a few feet from another hatch. . All of them were on hands and knees, their backs mere inches from the ceiling. There might be room for someone to get past someone else in the line, if they squeezed over, but it wasn't exactly comfortable. . Kyle remarked, "This is all comfy-cozy an' all, but ... can we gets movin' along? I think my nose is a little too close to Big'Un's nether regions here." . "Sure," Den said. "Someone want to help me attach these two kits to my suit and I'll go first?" Of course, he was currently fifth from the front, so shifting that far up the line would be challenging. . T'Lin was diligently trying to avoid touching anyone in the cramped space. Vulcans were touch telepaths and generally avoided physical contact when possible. . Hines called from the front of the line, "Hot through here, Colonel." The hatch was radiating heat that Hines could feel even through his combat armor. He tapped the butt of his rifle on the door. A hollow sound resounded from the door, indicated a large chamber beyond. . Carshel called, "What's going on?" He was still nearly stone deaf and couldn't hear Hines' call or the hollow tapping on the door. . Shadow reached in his medkit and readied anti-radiation medication, though, administering them to everyone in such a tight space would be rough.
. Bevin had assisted Den with securing the engineering and medkit to his belt, and the Security Chief stowed his rifle over his back and pulled a hand phaser as he began making his way past the others, trying to get to the front. As he did he said, "That's not good. I wonder if that's heat from a reactor, or a natural heat source from the planet." . Bevin pulled a tricorder from her engineer's kit and took scans of the radiation levels, confirming they were close to the original power source of the fusion reactor they were looking for. . As Den squeezed past Tabby and then Kyle, Kyle said, "We's gonna all get real innymate with each other in here, ain't we?" . Tabby elbowed Kyle, who was now next to him, "Shhh ... that's nasty!" . With Den now moved forward, Bevin found herself next to her betrothed and kissed him on the ear. Tabby flinched, "Ack! Ow, Bevin! It's sore, remember? No touchy!" . "Sairry, mo croidhe," she said with a smile. . As Kyle and Den switched places, Hines readjusted himself so that he was boots-first against the door. "All right," he warned, "gonna get hot." . "Wait, Hines!" Den shouted, but ... he was too late. Hines gave a solid kick to the panel. The door broke open at the kick and fell into the chamber beyond. Heat and radiation flooded out of the chamber and up the access tunnel, inundating the entire Away Team. The chamber beyond was filled with the huge root mass of The Evil Vine entwined around a glowing-hot fusion core well beyond its normal limits.