USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202111.05

 

 

Introduction:

The Penumbra was at Yellow Alert and under MIRAGE holding station near a habitable, but apparently uninhabited, planet on the outskirts of the Breen Confederacy. They had followed a "bread crumb" trail apparently left intentionally by Galex to this location where they had discovered to their surprise that Galex was rendezvousing with the Zhenkarian Corsaire, V'rot Ka'Gun, where Ka'Gun had brought a female Cardassian to meet with the Breen Thot, Yurl, aboard Galex's ship. Aside from the Penumbra, Galex's small yacht, and the Zhenkarian destroyer, there did not appear to be any other ships in the area.

Meanwhile, back at the Breen Scout Ship that had brought Thot Yurl to meet with Galex, the Penumbra had many of their Marines trying to take possession of the Scout ship. Before departing, the Penumbra had launched four of their Delta Flyers to provide the Marines "air support" and emergency evacuation, if needed, and then sent their Pathfinders aboard. The Marines quickly took control of the Bridge, detaining the three Breen they found there, and then adjusting the on-board gravity to extreme levels to prevent any other Breen on board from being able to interfere.

 

Bridge:

A Setup?

Cdre. Zak Taylor was pacing back and forth across the Bridge again. Cmdr. Relok had taken Col. Travis Patterson's seat in the XO's chair since Patterson was on another Away Mission. The Vulcan Chief of Sciences was silently counting the Commodore's steps, anticipating the about-face as Zak reached the edge of the clear space and started towards the opposite side.

LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris tried to look busy at the Operations Console, but his wife, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry-Tibris, down in Main Engineering was doing an excellent job maintaining the generators and engines and keeping power flowing in optimal form that Tabby had little to actually do.

LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke, released to light duty after the medicine had brought his hallucinations under control, stood at the Tactical Station while LtCmdr. Jason Carter sat at the Helm, making sure they kept a safe distance from Galex's yacht and the Zhenkarian Corsaire. Lt. Jackson Carshel worked at the Primary Science Station while LtCmdr. T'Lin took some time to meditate in her quarters.

Zak glanced at his Chief of Sciences, "Relok, did you manage to get any scans through Galex's ship? What are that Breen and Cardassian doing? The Cardassian transferred over a half-hour ago!"

Relok turned to his subordinate, "Anything, Lieutenant?"

Carshel answered, "All I see are empty rooms and un-used corridors, sir."

Zak sighed and said, "OK, so Galex only lets us see what he wants us to see, and only hear what he wants us to hear. We need to find a way around that limitation. I don't like being beholden to him for our intel."

Relok said, "One has to wonder just what scheme Galex is working here. Why is he sharing information with us? And ... who's paying for it?" They all knew that very few Ferengi did anything without getting something in return.

Den grumbled, "It's probably a setup."

Zak turned to his Chief of Security and Tactical Operations, "It certainly feels like we're being led around by the nose, doesn't it?"

 

"We need some answers!"

Then Zak said, "Den, check long-range scans again. If there aren't any other ships around, we don't need to keep hiding, do we? We can confront Galex and Ka'Gun and find out what's going on."

Den glanced down at the Tactical Board and extended their range to the maximum limit, just in case. He lifted his head and said, "I don't think so," indicating he still had nothing on the tactical sensors. Then he added, "If the Flight has already been spotted, or will be, it won't matter." That was to remind everyone that they had four Delta Flyers back at the Breen Scout Ship, and if anybody detected *them* it wouldn't matter whether the Penumbra herself was detected too.

But Relok asked the Commodore, "Sir, is that advisable?" meaning confronting Galex and Ka'Gun. He went on, "Galex has gone to some trouble to arrange this little meeting, and he already informed us that our presence here will complicate his plans." It was the duty of the Executive Officer, or in this case, the Acting XO, to bring alternatives to the Commanding Officer, or at least remind him of things he might have not considered.

Zak ran a hand through his silvery hair, "Who the hell is Galex working for? Us? The Breen? The Cardassians? Or is there someone else paying him for this set up? We need some answers!"

"Sir," Tabby cut in, "Delta Flight's hailing us. Shall I open comms?"

Zak turned to him, "What?" He paused then said, "Yes, Tabby, let's hear it."

"Aye, sir, opening now." Tabby pressed a button and gave a nod.

"Delta Flight, this is Penumbra," Zak said, "go with your message."

The voice of CfWrnt. "Sandy" Sandoval came over the comms, "Message from the Colonel: The ship is captured, but they've been locked out from the controls, and he claims they may end up self-destructing in less than an hour. We're currently towing the vessel, but we can't do much more than impulse, Commodore."

Relok looked to the Commodore and said, "Sir, we may gain better intel by picking up Delta and the Scout ship than waiting here with Galex."

Zak gave a nod and turned towards the Helm, "Carter, set course to rendezvous with Delta Flight."

"Aye, sir, coming about," Carter responded, his fingers flying over the navigation console to lay in the course.

Zak said to Sandy over the comms, "Acknowledged, we're on our way to pick you up." He signaled Tabby to close the comm and the half-Romulan did and gave him a nod.

 

"Emergency ex-fil in progress"

With the course computed, Carter looked up and asked, "Should we keep the other Deltas in the area here to monitor Galex?" They still had four Delta Flyers in the Flight Deck on standby.

"Good idea, Carter," Zak said. "Launch Delta Bravo under cloak and have them observe but not approach. If Galex and Ka'Gun go seperate ways, have two split off and tail each for a ways."

Carter nodded and sent the signal for Delta Bravo to scramble. He saw the response and reported, "Two minutes, then we'll be clear to warp."

Relok pointed out, "Commodore, you're spreading us pretty thin, sir."

Den checked his sensors again and confirmed, "Either there's not any others out there, or they are hiding as well."

Zak sighed again, walked over to the Command Chair and took his seat before answering. "We have to find answers around here somewhere, and there's just too many moving parts right now."

A moment later, Delta Bravo's four Flyers went catapulting from the launch tubes. When he'd received the All Clear, Carter signaled the Commodore and received the nod to jump to warp. Once underway, Carter reported, "ETA to rendezvous is 18 minutes, 32 seconds."

The quiet at his station had set Carshel to thinking. Of course, he had been watching the sensors to try to get through Galex's sensor glitches, but part of his mind kept going back to Kat. He thought to himself, ~Once shift is over, maybe I can see Kat. I wonder if I should get her a get-well gift? What would she even like? Oh man, girls are hard!~ He sat quiet a moment, then began musing again, ~Flowers? But what kind? Chocolates? Does she even like sweets? Teddy-bear? Jewelry?~ He paused again, then lowered his head slightly, ~Crap, I'm so screwed. I don't stand a chance.~

Suddenly, Sandy's voice cut through on the comm line, the priority signal automatically connecting, "Penumbra, the Breen ship is going critical! Emergency ex-fil in progress," he used the Marine jargon for the opposite of an IN-filtration: EX-filtration. He continued,"and we have one life-sign unstable: Sergeant Major Hines is in A-Fib."

Zak heard Sandy's report and barked, "Carter, punch it!"

"Aye, sir!" Carter barked back. He pushed the throttle a bit further and began reporting, "Warp 9.5 ... 9.6 ... 9.75 ...," he trailed off.

Mere moments later, they had reached the rendezvous coordinates and Carter dropped them out of warp. They'd hardly even returned to normal space when they saw the Breen Scout Ship erupt in a fury of fire and ice!

Before they'd even registered what they'd seen, Sandy's voice came over the comms again, "Delta Alpha requesting clearance to dock, Delta 2 with priority medevac."

Carter only glanced at Zak, who still sat dazed looking at the spreading debris field from the Breen ship, and then the Chief of Flight Operations called back, "Granted Sandy. One and Two cleared, Three and Four on Auxiliary."

Finally, Zak came out of it and called to Sandy, "Do you have our Team?"

Sandy answered, "Aye, sir. Hines and Kyle are on Delta 2. The rest are with me, plus one Officer P.O.W."

Zak glanced at Relok and raised an eyebrow. "A P.O.W.? Well, at least we didn't come away empty handed!"

 

Sickbay:

Guilty Pleasure

Sickbay was quiet with LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke having returned to the Bridge. His sister, LtCmdr. Katarina Hawke had also been released to "light duty", but since she was the Assistant Chief Medical Officer, her duties were there in Sickbay. She busied herself doing some cleaning, even though she still had some residual nausea from the medication they'd taken to suppress the strange hallucinations she and her brother had been having. That medicine had also disrupted her connection to Den through their remaining Borg interlink, and that absence was mildly frustrating.

Dr. Shadow K'Trevala had been in his office resting, but soon emerged feeling refreshed. He checked on Kat, doing his best not to further irritate her.

After a few minutes of straightening up, Kat laid down on one of the biobeds, giving an audible groan and clutching at her stomach. Shadow moved over and gently removed her boots and started giving her a foot massage.

Kat instantly sat up, surprised. She opened her mouth as if to question Shadow, but then just let out a soft moan and lay back. The foot massage was just too good!

Shadow smiled at her reaction. "Wish me to continue with the rest of your body?" he asked.

Her only response was just a moan. She'd never received a foot massage in her life! She'd been assimilated by the Borg as a fairly young child, and Borg do not do foot massages! And since her rescue and de-assimilation, it just hadn't ever happened. But she knew she liked it, it felt like heaven!

Shadow just smiled and continued, switching to the other foot, then back again, until it felt he was kneading Play-Doh or something at the end of her leg! Then he moved up over her ankle and started with the calves and knees, doing the best he could to alleviate all the tension he found. He knew she'd been under quite a bit of stress lately.

"Mmm," Kat moaned, "Doctors are really good with their hands." She purred and nearly melted into the bed.

Shadow kept working, making sure not to go anywhere that might be inappropriate. "We try to be," he answered.

Kat couldn't help but laugh at Shadow's quip. She rolled to her stomach so Shadow could work on her back, stretching as she did.

Shadow grinned back at her, then set to work on her tense back and shoulders.

Kat felt just a little guilty at being pampered like this while Den was on the Bridge suffering. "Mmm," she purred again, "This is a guilty pleasure!"

Shadow had picked up her thoughts and with a smirk said, "If it comes to it that he also needs a massage, then I have no problem taking care of his sore muscles." Kat let out a giggle thinking of her stern brother getting a massage from Shadow!

But, after a few minutes of the massage, Kat soon fell asleep under Shadow's magic touch, even though the touch wasn't magical, per se, just years of training and practice. There could have been a little bleed-over from his empathic abilities to sense just where the tension was and when he'd found just the right spot, but mostly it was just from being a dedicated caregiver.

Finally, Shadow left Kat sleeping peacefully and returned to his office to meditate.

 

Breen Scout:

Lock-out

Col. Travis Patterson, SgtMaj.Derek Hines, MstSgt. Khal'Gon, SSgt. Will Davies, and Cpl. Homer Kyle were an Away Team that had taken control of the Breen Scout Ship that had brought the Breen Thot, Yurl, to meet with Galex the Ferengi. Outside the tiny ship, four Delta Flyers held station, the lead of which, deemed Delta One, was piloted by CfWrnt. "Sandy" Sandoval.

But, after taking the tiny ship and flying it a short way at warp speed, the ship had suddenly stopped and was flashing some kind of warning or prompt in Breen on several of the monitors. They had deduced it was asking for some kind of command code to re-enable control. But, when they'd ordered one of the Breen they'd captured, the one whose helmet markings indicated he was an officer, he'd refused, and he'd said the ship was set to auto-destruct unless they gave it the proper code!

So now, Patterson stood in the center of the small Bridge and said, "We got 30 minutes to figure out how to override the lockout, at best."

Davies grunted, "It looks like it."

Patterson continued, "In the meantime, we best get a tow." Then he turned to three of his men, Hines, Davies, and then Kyle. "You three think you can fight your way down to their warp core?"

But Kyle pointed out in his Carolina twang, "Boss, we's still gots that heavy gravity thang going, ain't we?"

Even as he said this, Davies asked, "Did the heavy gravity not work?"

They'd set the gravity plating throughout the ship, with the exception of the Bridge itself, to such a high rating that no-one could get up and move. This was to disable any of the remaining Breen from trying to storm the Bridge, or any other area, to re-take control of the ship.

Patterson shook his head, "It worked, but if we gotta get to Engineering, it's gonna encumber y'all as well, unless we turn it back to normal."

Davies said, "Not if we make a certain path, just for us."

Kyle asked, "But ... what if we's fights our way down thar and still cain't get the self-destruct turned off?"

Hines mumbled a bit and rubbed his bald head. "I dunno if it'll even be worth the effort. Even if we get there, we still may not be able to regain control."

 

"Quick to sing"

Patterson shook his head a bit more, hating the logic his men pointed out. Finally, he opened a commlink, "Patterson to Delta. We're locked out, and there's a possibility of a self-destruct in less than an hour. Get into formation and give us a tow, and signal the Penumbra immediately."

Sandy's voice came back, "Aye. Forming on your front and flanks. We'll be limited to impulse, though. Not gonna get far dragging dead weight." He opened another commlink, "Delta Flight to Penumbra, message from the Colonel."

The four Delta Flyers maneuvered into a diamond formation and each locked on their tractor beam. Then, with coordinated effort, they began to tow the somewhat larger Breen Scout Ship at impulse speed. It was possible they might manage to get it up to Warp 1, for a few minutes maybe, but it couldn't last long, and even that would take supreme coordination of the four Flyers.

On the Scout, the Breen Officer spoke up, the harsh buzzing and crackling sound of his voice preceding the Universal Translator by a second or two. "We are expected to pick up the Thot in a little over half an hour. If we're not where he expects us, he will send for a squadron to search the area for us. That will not go well for you and your people."

Patterson turned to him and said, "For some reason I highly doubt that. Why would a Thot be alone with such a small vessel so lightly manned if he isn't some sort of defector? For that matter, why would he be contacting a Ferengi, much less one with ties to the Federation?"

The Breen stared up at Patterson from his place on the floor for a moment, then said, "So, you don't know what's going on then. That's good to know."

Patterson gave him a smirk. "Maybe not, but we'll find out soon enough, won't we? Khal'Gon," he turned to the over seven-foot-tall half-Nausicaan, half-Klingon, "Take him away."

The huge Marine had previously implied he had some nefarious ideas for what to do to the Breen to get him to talk, or at least to give the big Nausicaan a few moments pleasure before they all died. He grinned as he moved towards the Breen, "Come now, little piggy."

The Breen glanced up at Khal'Gon and then pleaded, "Wait! Wait! I ... fine, I'll tell you, just keep that Nausicaan away from me!"

Davies smirked, "Quick to sing, isn't he?"

 

Shocked

On Delta One, the Commodore's voice came over the commlink, "Delta Flight, this is Penumbra, go with your message."

Sandy relayed, "Message from the Colonel: The ship is captured, but they've been locked out from the controls, and he claims they may end up self-destructing in less than an hour. We're currently towing the vessel, but we can't do much more than impulse, Commodore."

Over the open comm, Sandy heard the acting XO, Cmdr. Relok, say, "Sir, we may gain better intel by picking up Delta and the Scout ship than waiting here with Galex."

Zak could be heard ordering, "Carter, set course to rendezvous with Delta Flight."

And Carter's voice said, "Aye, sir, coming about."

Then Zak said, "Acknowledged, we're on our way to pick you up," and the commlink closed.

Back on the Scout Ship, Patterson held a hand up to stop Khal'Gon and said, "Start with giving us the command codes, and I'll call my hound off for now."

The Breen turned and slightly lifted his hands that were bound behind his back with electronic cuffs. "Take these things off my wrists first."

Patterson just shook his head. "The code ... then I'll consider it."

When the Breen just glared at him, Patterson lowered his head and said, "Khal'Gon? How durable are Breen suits?"

Khal'Gon gave a wide grin. "I bet they tear like fabric!"

The Breen sighed, giving up with a nod. "Fine. Help me up and I'll enter the pass code."

But it was Hines who stepped over and grabbed the Breen by the lapels of his suit, lifting him and saying, "Speak. Verbal authoriz-"

But Hines was cut off as the Breen's suit sent a high-voltage current straight into Hines! The tall black man stiffened, crying out in pain, then collapsed to the ground unconscious!

 

Counterattack

While everyone was still in shock over ... well, the shock ... the Breen Officer charged headlong at Khal'Gon. At the same instant, the other two Breen jumped up and charged the other Marines, one at Kyle, and one at Davies.

Khal'Gon's huge mass saved him as the Breen barely managed to even move the big man. Khal'Gon pulled his daq'tagh and stepped forward, "Let's see how many more tricks you have beneath that suit."

Kyle's reflexes kicked in. He dropped his rifle and grabbed the Breen that rushed him with both hands and fell with him, pulling them both to the floor, then quickly rolling so the Marine was on top. He might sound like a dumb country hick, but, he was a highly trained Starfleet Marine after all!

Davies lifted his phaser rifle, already set to maximum stun setting, and fired at the one charging him. While the point-blank shot hit the target center mass, the now unconscious Breen kept coming with his momentum and crashed into Davies. The Marine toppled backwards, releasing the rifle and grabbing on. Like Kyle had done, he used the Breen's own momentum to flip him over the Marine's head, and then Davies flipped too, landing on top of the unconscious Breen.

Kyle's opponent continued to struggle. Even with his hands bound he was stronger than a mere Human and managed to get out from under Kyle and back to his feet. Patterson quickly snatched his knife from its sheath on his hip and flung it at the Breen. It hit the Breen in the back of one knee and the Breen quickly stumbled and fell onto Kyle again.

Almost before he'd even released the knife, Patterson had dialed his phaser rifle up to "Vaporize" and pointed it at the Breen Officer who stood in front of Khal'Gon.

Finally, the Breen said, "All right! All right! We had to try, didn't we?"

Patterson glared at him a moment, then looked up at Khal'Gon. "Strip him." He turned. "Kyle, check on Hines." He turned again, "Davies ...," he gestured at the Breen with the knife in his knee.

 

Leaking Gas

Kyle wriggled out from under the Breen and got to his feet. He checked the hand locks, then kicked the Breen in the side. Davies rolled to his own feet, picking up his rifle as he did. Seeing that Kyle was actually focused on the bleeding Breen, Davies turned to check on Hines, pulling out a tricorder to get his stats.

Hines was unconscious, and "slightly crispy" inside his Combat Armor. But, the life support signs showed he had strong vitals, except for an accelerated and slightly irregular heartbeat. Davies said, "Hmm, seems okay, except ... I believe he's in a-fib."

Khal'Gon bared his teeth at the Breen Officer, then slammed his daq'tagh down into the Breen Officer's shoulder, digging it downwards through the suit and the flesh.

But, as Khal'Gon's blade penetrated the suit, a cloud of noxious gasses game out! Fortunately, all of the Marines were still in their Combat Armor and were not affected by any poisonous fumes. Khal'Gon just grumbled and continued to dig through suit and flesh around the Breen's arm and then down to his ribcage. "This will not be quick," he said, "nor will it kill you, Breen. Start talking, because ... once this suit is gone ... you're gonna be my new pet!"

But then, a warning klaxon sounded. Apparently, the Breen ship's sensors detected the toxic gas. Many of the indicator lights on the self-destruct countdown, that had been slowly fading out as the time passed, suddenly flashed off, leaving only a handful. The self-destruct sequence had been dramatically shortened! They had mere minutes!

The Breen Officer actually laughed through the pain. "We're all going to die a glorious death! But will Sto'vo'kor recognize you with your face melted off, Klingon?"

Khal'Gon grinned back at him behind his Combat Helmet, "There's no place for a Nausicaan in Sto'vo'kor ... but there is a place for you and your crew as my little piggies!"

Patterson noticed the diminished time on the countdown, and grumbling opened a commlink, "Sandy, how far out is the Penumbra?"

On Delta One Sandy shook his head. His sensors were showing the Scout Ship's core beginning to overload. He opened the comm, "Not close enough!" Then he added, "I'm reading an energy build-up in their core, Colonel."

Davies groaned, "We just found a new problem. Great."

Sandy sent another priority signal to the Penumbra. "Penumbra, the Breen ship is going critical! Emergency ex-fil in progress, and we have one life-sign unstable: Sergeant Major Hines is in A-Fib."

 

Ex-fil

Kyle finally made his way over to Hines. He was the team's corpsman after all and was a trained field medic. As he did, Davies swapped places with him, standing guard over the bleeding Breen with Patterson's knife in the back of his knee.

Kyle saw the self-destruct counter then, and pointing at it said, "Um, Boss, maybe it's time we gets going, huh?"

Patterson looked at the most junior member of his team, then the quickly diminishing indicator lights on the counter, and sighed. He opened the commlink. "Delta, beam us and the Officer out, now, then ... drop the hammer, Sandy."

Sandy didn't send Patterson a voice acknowledgement. He signaled his counterpart on Delta Two, and they divided up the transport between them. Delta Two took Kyle, their corpsman, and the injured Hines, while Sandy took Patterson, Khal'Gon, Davies, and the Breen Officer to Delta One.

As Davies was dematerializing he grumbled, "Well, isn't that about a ...," but he was cut off in the transporter buffer.

As soon as the transport ended, the four Delta Flyers warped a second or so to a "safe distance" from the Breen Scout ship. Just as they stopped, the Penumbra herself dropped out of warp nearby just in time to see the Breen Scout Ship detonate in a fury of fire and ice!

Sandy opened a commlink, "Delta Alpha requesting clearance to dock, Delta 2 with priority medevac."

There was a brief instant before he heard Carter respond, "Granted Sandy. One and Two cleared, Three and Four on Auxiliary."

Then he heard the Commodore ask, "Do you have our Team?"

Sandy answered, "Aye, sir. Hines and Kyle are on Delta 2. The rest are with me, plus one Officer P.O.W."