USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202102.19 Introduction: . The Penumbra was still in the Mirror Universe, near the Rift that had brought them there, even though that Rift was now just a tiny hole, hardly large enough for a small shuttle to fit through. And, it was being actively guarded by a modified Romulan Warbird under the command of the Mirror Universe version of the Android who went by the name of Golem Cain, and two Aslan Battlecruisers he'd summoned for reinforcements. . The Penumbra had started the battle by launching several torpedoes at the Warbird, some of which had been loaded with a set of viruses, one a biological virus that was hoped would debilitate his crew, and one an electronic virus that was hoped would disable his computer system (and maybe even the Golem himself). . The Penumbra was also utilizing the tremendous power output of an ancient alien antimatter fusion core known as the Heart of the Ancients that had supercharged their shields and other systems. That Core was currently in Cargo Bay One being monitored by Cmdr. Relok while much of the rest of the Senior Staff was on the Bridge. . One of the two Battlecruisers had taken a powerful raking shot by the supercharged phasers of the Penumbra but the other was untouched (so far). . At the moment, the Penumbra was virtually invisible, using their advanced Multiphasic Image Redirection And Graphic Emitters (MIRAGE) to project the starfield behind them onto their hull, effectively disappearing from all sensors. . But the Core providing all that power for the MIRAGE, phasers, and shielding, and the planned dual Tractor Beams called "Grabby Hands", was overheating and couldn't keep up that level of output for much longer. Bridge, Cargo Bay One, & the Golem's Warbird: And so it begins
. Capt. Zak Taylor sat on the edge of the Command Seat staring at the main viewer. LtCol. Travis Patterson stood behind LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke who had the Tactical Station. LtCmdr. Jason Carter held the manual-control flight sticks in his hands at the Helm. LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris sat at the Operations Console, ready to use their dual Tractor Beam dubbed "Grabby Hands" to pry open the Rift to make it wide enough for the Penumbra to pass through. LtCmdr. T'Lin stood at the Primary Science Console, ready for anything the strange Rift between the universes might throw at them. Lt. Katarina Hawke stood at the Auxiliary Medical Station on the Bridge, ready to coordinate medical teams to deal with any injuries from the fighting. And LtJG. Jackson Carshel sat at the Secondary Science Station, eager to assist wherever he was needed. . Patterson tapped his commbadge. "Bridge to Cargo Bay. Get everyone out of there and quarantine the room. Activate fire suppression units to try and keep things cool as long as possible. We're gonna need every ounce of energy outta that thing." . Relok's voice came back over the comms, "Everyone has left except me. I will monitor and keep everything running as long as I can. But, Colonel, we do not have the infrastructure here to properly cool this Core. This isn't Main Engineering." . The Captain turned his chair and raised a brow at Patterson. "He's right, Colonel. We need someone on it until the last minute." . Carter turned to glance at Tabby, then to the Captain, "We're in range for Grabby Hands. Standing by to disengage impulse and MIRAGE." . Zak said, "Den, Tabby, turn off everything we can do without. Let's not overtax that thing. But, Den, keep those shields hot! And Tabby ... do your thing with those Grabby Hands, but ... make it quick, will ya?" . Tabby cracked his knuckles and gave a nod, "Aye. Using Grabby Hands in three ... two ... one ... all right, I've got it."
. Meanwhile, on the Warbird, the Golem barked to his Tactical Officer, "Just shoot the bastard! How hard can it be? Look, they're right there by the rift? See that twinkle?" But the Romulan officer at the weapons control did not have the enhanced synthetic optical sensors of the android Golem. . Nearby, the damaged Battlecruiser backed off, flaming and smoking from its belly, but the other one began shooting blindly, white-hot plasma beams knifing through space a hundred kilometers off the starboard bow of the Penumbra. . Back on the Penumbra, Den watched the beams and commented, "They are fishing." . Zak turned towards him and said, "Maybe so, Den, but the pond is getting pretty small, don't you think?" . Patterson nodded and said, "Full power to shields. Carter, cut impulse power. Deactivate the MIRAGE. Tabby, get a good grip on that Rift and start prying." He tapped his commbadge and announced, "All hands, brace for impact!" . Carter responded, "Aye, Colonel, cutting impulse ... now." A second later he announced, "We're adrift." And, he didn't need to announce this part: they were visible to their enemies as the MIRAGE shut down. . Zak slid back in the Command Seat and activated the restraints. "Now would be a good time to start praying," he said. Virus Uploaded, Torpedoes Incoming . On the Warbird, the Golem sat up, "There! Shoot the bastard!" He paused as he watched the viewscreen in front of him. "What is that ... thing? Tractor beams? Dual ... tractor beams?" . The nearby Battlecruiser also noticed the Penumbra as it suddenly appeared visible. It cut loose it's high-powered phasers and the plasma beams skated along the Penumbra's shields. . Back on the Penumbra, Tabby muttered, "Any second, the virus will get to his ship. Any ... god-damned ... second." . "Full power," Den reported. "Weapons still hot. Fire while we’ve got it?"
. Patterson gripped the edge of Den's Tactical console, then moved back around to the XO's seat. As he sat he said, "Mr. Hawke, while we still have power ... rip that Cruiser in half." . Zak nodded, "Yeah, shoot at them with the last of our torpedoes, Den, but save the phasers for shield power." . Den just grinned as he let them have it with torpedoes. . As the Battlecruiser strafed the Penumbra with another round of phasers, Carter fought the Helm controls, trying to keep the ship stable near the Rift so Tabby could work with the Grabby Hands. "Okay," he said, "this isn't as easy ...," he trailed off. . But, on the Warbird, the lights suddenly began to flicker randomly all over the ship. The Golem looked around and then barked out, "What the hell are you guys doing? Now is not the time to play games!" . On the Penumbra, Tabby grinned, estimating the timing. "And, the virus should have taken effect." . But then the Battlecruiser switched tactics, abandoning phasers that seemed to have little effect on the Penumbra's super-powered shields, and instead launched a volley of torpedoes, six in all! . Zak saw the torpedoes headed towards them on the main viewer. "Den," he called, "we've got incoming!" . MAX reported the same. "Incoming torpedoes. Point defense systems are being rerouted to the Tractor Beams." That meant they would not have the automated computer shooting down the torpedoes! . "Oh, God," Zak groaned. "This is gonna hurt!" . "Yeah, yeah, it will," Tabby agreed. "Hold on, everybody!" He continued working the dual Tractor Beams of the Grabby Hands, grunting as he did, "Come on, budge you damned Rift! I wanna go home to do my damn wedding, so budge damnit!" Peeking Through
. Den's fingers flew across the Tactical board as he shifted power to the shields facing the Battlecruiser, then rapidly targeted phasers towards the incoming torpedoes. He managed to take out two of them, but the other four impacted the ship's shields. . The ship rocked wildly from the impact, jarring everyone on board, but then Den reported, "Shields down to ... 450%?" He smiled. . Tabby confirmed the power levels, "Uh, Cap, that barely dented us." . Outside, the Rift was finally starting to open. It was still way too small for any decent-sized ship to fit through, but, they could scan through it. . T'Lin announced, "There is home! Just a little longer!" She stepped over to the Operations Console, reaching across Tabby who struggled with the Grabby Hands to reroute power from residential quarters to the Tractor Beams. "I have added more power to Grabby Hands," she reported. . "Thanks, T'Lin," Tabby said. . "It will not last long," T'Lin remarked. . On the Warbird, the Golem was growing frustrated. "Why can't you just hit that damn ship?" he raved. "Do I have to do everything? Get out of the way!" He stood and moved over to the Tactical console, that was flickering off and on. His Tactical Officer quickly stepped back, relieved he wasn't simply killed outright by the psychotic Golem. . On the Penumbra, Tabby smirked. "I can sense his anger." Whether he could actually detect the emotions of an artificial humanoid was questionable, but surely he could speculate on them. "Pfft," he made a noise, "he's gotta be so pissed!" . Carter fired the port thrusters to reset their position relative to the Rift. "Yeah, those impacts moved us a little. Another volley like that and we may lose our grip." . "Agreed," Tabby said. "But by now, Mr. Nuts-and-Bolts should be having direct contact to mine and Carshel's ... experiment." That would be the enhanced nanites of their electronic virus.
. Patterson opened the commlink, "Status down there, Relok?" . Relok responded, "We're holding steady. The temperature is about 125% normal, but holding there ... for now." . Tabby continued struggling with the Grabby Hands on the edges of the Rift. "Come on, come on!" he groaned. Slow Progress . Patterson asked, "MAX, where can we pull more power from without overheating our new Core?" . Tabby asked, "Think maybe Bug Zapper might deter the next volley, Captain?" Bug Zapper was developed to help repel the Kyrathian Energy-Siphoning Pods before they could actually settle on the shields, but ... maybe, just maybe, they could repel torpedoes as well? . But the Captain didn't answer before the face of the Artificial Intelligence called MAX manifested on several pedestals around the Bridge and answered Patterson, "I have transferred all power from the MIRAGE projection arrays, phaser arrays, impulse engines, warp field stability algorithms, recreational facilities--" . Patterson interrupted him, "I asked where we CAN pull more power from, not what we've already done, MAX!" . Slowly, the Rift grew larger. It was perhaps big enough for a runabout to fit through without scraping the paint ... barely. But, the Penumbra was a lot bigger than that! . Back on the Warbird, the Golem grinned as he manually targeted the Penumbra using his enhanced senses and sharper processing abilities. He pressed the button to release a huge disrupter blast and ... nothing happened. "What the --?" he blinked. "Why didn't it fire?" . He stared at the console accusingly as lights blinked off and on across its face. "Damn it!" he shouted and slammed his hand down on the console with brutal force, cracking it and sending sparks flying. Tiny tendrils of a strange green fire licked across the screen. "Fine," the Golem said, "torpedo launchers appear to be working."
. Suddenly a wicked green flash erupted from the Warbird's Tactical Console, enveloping the Golem in an aura of flickering green light. He stiffened and fell over like a toppled statue! . Meanwhile, the Battlecruiser launched another volley of six torpedoes streaming towards the Penumbra. Tied to the Rift by the dual Tractor Beams of the Grabby Hands, they were sitting ducks! . On the Penumbra, Den again shifted power along the shields to provide a strong front against the incoming torpedoes, as well as trying to manually target as many as he could to take them out before impact. . T'Lin stepped over from the Science Station to lend Den an extra pair of hands, targeting one of the incoming torpedoes with one of their own, hoping to cause a chain reaction to take out more of them while they were still some distance out. More Power! . Tensely, Zak muttered, "Tabby, open the damn door, please!" . Tabby grunted back, "Working on it! It's a pain in the arse, Captain!" He struggled more with the controls for the Grabby Hands, grumbling, "Come on, budge damnit, you freaking piece of dung!" He pulled the controls as hard as he could trying to force the Rift open big enough to scrape by. . Between Den and T'Lin, they managed to take out 3 of the 6 incoming torpedoes, but the other 3 impacted the forward shields, again sending the ship bucking from the impact. "Ow!" T'Lin cried as she banged one of her knees on the console support. She dragged her chair from the Science Console and adjusted it for the Tactical Station as she continued trying to help Den. "I am tired of dealing with this ... Golem," she said. The way she said "Golem" conveyed deep disdain, the way one referred to something they deeply disliked, like the way some people referred to ... brussel sprouts!
. Den was hanging on to the other side of the console trying to maintain his balance. He quickly redistributed power through the shields. "Shields are at 389%, those are fine. Its inside that's not. Structural integrity is still taking hits." . Kat held onto the Medical Station, now beginning to receive reports of injuries from around the ship. They were minor still at this point, mostly bumps and bruises from the jarring impacts. . MAX finally gave Patterson an answer. "Life support systems, Colonel. We can transfer power from Life Support. Based on impact analysis, we will not survive continual fire for more than 15 minutes ... and even without Life Support, we will still have 30 minutes of breathable atmosphere before serious health risks occur." . Patterson turned to the Captain beside him and raised any eyebrow with an unspoken question. . Zak looked at him a moment, then gave a curt nod. "Do it." . Patterson nodded back then turned his head towards the Tactical Console. "Denovan, transfer one-quarter of our shield power to structural integrity. MAX ... cut Life Support." . "Acknowledged," MAX responded. "Life Support systems are offline. Power transfer to the forward deflector complete." . The main computer's voice, distinctly different from the AI, MAX (who just coincidentally occupied the same mainframe), announced, "WARNING! Life Support systems have been disabled. Total atmospheric loss in 30 minutes." Lights Out, Last Gamble . A call came from Relok down with the Core in the Cargo Bay, "Bridge, the Core here is at 150% normal temperature. I wouldn't want to get to 200%. How much longer, sirs?" . Zak turned to Tabby, "Tabby, you heard the man, hurry it up." . Tabby growled, "Working on it! I can't just snap my finger ... sir!"
. Suddenly, the Warbird went totally dark, all it's lights going out. Against the blackness of space it almost disappeared. . Tabby looked up at the main viewer and muttered, "Huh, looks like the Warbird is merely a bird now, and completely harmless!" . T'Lin, sitting on her elevated chair beside Den as he stood at the Tactical Console, reviewed the Tactical Display, trying to identify the Warbird in the darkness. She said, "Let us not get comfortable here!" She addressed Tabby directly, "Not gone, Tabeshk, hiding." . But it wasn't hiding. The Warbird's systems had finally succumbed to the Green Energy Monster Nanites rampaging through its system. It had gone offline, it's computer system and power distribution network overwhelmed by an electronic cancer. . Staring at the main viewer at the dark where the Warbird was supposed to be, the Captain said, "Tabby, maybe that virus of yours did the trick, huh?" . Tabby answered, "Looks like it, but ... for how long? I don't know. Give me ...," he glanced at the Rift, "five minutes?" . It was at that moment the ship's computer announced, "WARNING! Life Support systems have been disabled. Total atmospheric loss in 15 minutes." . Though the Warbird went dark, the Battlecruiser did not. Another set of high-energy plasma beams leaped out, raking along the Penumbra's shields. But all that power from the Core was keeping the shields strong and phasers, even the high-intensity ones used by the Aslans, weren't getting through it. . "Carter," the Captain said, "As soon as you think you have enough clearance, go for it. We trust your flying. But ... remember, we have 4 nacelles. I'd like to have all 4 on the other side, please." . Patterson, seeing the Warbird go dark, turned to Tabby and said, "Tabby, open a channel, subspace audio only, to the Aslan cruisers. Tell them ... this is their opportunity to free themselves from their oppressive overlord. Tell them to destroy the Warbird. See if they cooperate."
. Zak turned to Patterson, a question in his eyes for just a moment before a grin spread across his face. "I like it!" he said. Inciting Insurrection? . Tabby grunted, still fighting the Grabby Hands even while sending the communications package. "Understood, opening channel now." The fingers of one hand flew across his panel, even while the other continued operating the Grabby Hands. The Rift was almost wide enough, almost! Another minute, perhaps? . T'Lin asked, "The enemy of my enemy is ... my ... friend? Is that the saying?" . Tabby muttered, mostly to himself, "Channel open ... relaying message ... message delivered!" . Den muttered, "Well, this should be interesting." . And then, an Aslan appeared on the main viewer, a gigantic insectoid resembling some kind of enormous cockroach standing on its hind legs. Patterson stood and straightened his uniform but Zak did not. The Aslan chittered and clicked for a moment before the Universal Translator kicked in recognizing the language of what was a Federation ally in our own universe. The Aslan Commander said, "We cannot risk attacking the Supreme Governor. But ... we will be forced to tow his ship out of harm's way. If you are not here when we return, well ... some things are beyond our control, right?" . Zak still had that stupid grin on his face. He looked up at Patterson, "Right, huh?" . Tabby mumbled under his breath, "That I can understand, and agree with." He continued pulling on the Grabby Hands control, prying on the Rift. His voice was barely above a whisper, "Come on, please, I'm begging you." . Patterson continued with the Aslan, giving it a brief nod. "If the Warbird were to be ... destroyed in combat ... you would have no Supreme Governor."
. The Aslan paused, as if to consider, then thunked its shell and clicked. "The risk he might survive is too great. And his power extends beyond just his own reach. No. We will tow him to safety. But ... you'd best not be where we can find you when we return ... in three hours." His antennae waved in an exaggerated pattern. Was that the equivalent of an Aslan wink? But then the commlink closed and the Battlecruiser locked its own Tractor Beam on the Warbird and began towing it away from the Rift. . About that time they got another call from Relok in the Cargo Bay. "Bridge, we've pressed our luck almost as long as we can!" . "Indeed we have," T'Lin said. She'd been monitoring the Core from the Bridge as well and saw the same thing Relok saw. . Relok reported, "Core temp is at 175%! We have to shut this thing down, and soon!" . Suddenly, T'Lin abandoned what she was doing on the Bridge and darted into the Turbolift headed for the Cargo Bay. Squeezing Through . The Captain immediately lost his stupid grin. "Carter?" he called to his Helmsman, "Can we make it yet?" . Carter checked his navigation computer, frantically checking angles and dimensions. "Just ... give me ... 20 more meters!" . Tabby was damn-near breaking his console pulling on the Grabby Hands controls. "I'm trying, I really am!" he said. "Maybe three minutes, hopefully less than that." . "WARNING!" the computer blared, "Life Support systems have been disabled. Total atmospheric loss in 5 minutes." . Den muttered, "I guess we're about to start holding our breath." . T'Lin came out of the Turbolift at a full run and arrived at the sealed door to Cargo Bay One. She pressed the commlink and called, "Relok, we have to let it go. Jettison it and let us go home without it." . Relok called back to T'Lin, "No! Not yet, we have to get through the Rift!" He checked the status of the Core. "We're at 180% temperature."
. At the Helm Carter finally said, "I can make it! Just ... hold it there, Tabby!" . Tabby was grinding his teeth with the strain, "I am! Ahh! This hurts like yell, you know! Get a move on, guys!" . Carter barked out, "I need impulse!" . Tabby quickly pressed buttons to reinitialize power to the impulse engines, then returned to pulling on the Grabby Hands. "Go!" he cried. . Carter nodded and said, "Firing impulse engines! Everyone hold on!" . Everyone who had a chair strapped in, and those who stood gripped consoles as they readied to enter the Rift connecting the two universes. Patterson returned to his seat and strapped in, then said, "MAX, prepare to cut all power. Transfer power from Grabby Hands back to Life Support, structural integrity, and impulse." . "Acknowledged," the AI said, "disengaging Grabby Hands." . Zak turned to Patterson. "Colonel, this Rift better not be here when those Aslan return ...," he trailed off. . Carter reported, "One-hundred-forty kilometers! One-ten ... 80 ... 50 ... 20 kilometers!" Heartbreak and Darkness . At the Cargo Bay door, T'Lin argued, "Relok, we must jettison it, look at it! It is not stable enough to keep it here any longer. If we do not jettison it, we all will die." . Relok looked at T'Lin's face through the window of the door, then tapped his commbadge, "Bridge, that's all we're going to get from the Core! Initiating emergency release!" He pulled the lever, then quickly slips through the hallway door as the outer Cargo Bay doors whooshed open to the vacuum of space beyond. . T'Lin grabbed him by an arm, heedless of the usual Vulcan disdain for physical contact, hauling at him, then gave him a shove on his back, "Go!" as the door slid shut behind them. . Patterson called back, "Acknowledged!" Then he turned to the Helm, "Carter ... punch it!"
. "Hang on!" Carter called, and hit full throttle. The ship lurched to full impulse speed, breaching the threshold of the Rift just as the Heart of the Ancients jettisoned into space behind them. . Patterson turned his head, "Denovan, lock onto the Heart and fire everything we've got left in the aft tubes." . The Heart spun wildly, glowing with its internal heat in spite of the dead cold of space. But before Den could actually launch a torpedo, the thing exploded in a blinding flash! . Tabby reflexively covered his eyes, "Damn, that's bright!" . "Oh ... shit!" Patterson swore. . A vicious shockwave engulfed the Penumbra, forcing it through the Rift at dangerous speeds and with uncontrollable vector! The Rift itself shuddered violently, and then .... collapsed. The Penumbra jerked and skipped and banged and creaked and groaned. Lights flared, then flickered, then went out completely. . In the hallway outside of Cargo Bay One, T'Lin watched through the window of the door as the Core exploded. Reflexively her Vulcan inner eyelids snapped shut against the bright flash. "Wow," she said, "That was bright!" She turned towards Relok, who was leaning against a wall. "Are we back?" Then the ship bucked. She stumbled into Relok. "Whoa," she said but then the shockwave hit full force, throwing the two of them against one wall, then another. . On the Bridge, everyone strapped in is rattled violently. The Captain's head snapped forward, back, sideways, probably not good for it to move all those directions in such a short time span. . Kat was strapped in but still held tight to her console. Her face made it clear she would be happy when this ride was over! . Carter fought the sticks desperately, trying to stabilize their wild spin, but when everything we dark, he just let go. He had no flight control. But ... the bouncing had stopped.
. Tabby released his death grip on the Operations Console. "Well, are we there yet?" he asked. He spun his chair, "Is dark. Guys? Hello?" . Carshel breathed out, "Everyone all right?" . Carter spoke. "I'm blind as well. Literally, just trying to feel for ANYTHING right now." . They were through the Rift, and presumably back in their own universe, but they'd lost all ship's systems. Everything was offline. They were drifting, dead in space, somewhere. But ... where?