USS Penumbra Sim Narrative, SD 202201.14

 

 

Introduction:

With the new year, the Penumbra was returning to the Breen Confederacy to further investigate the news that the Breen have been reverse-engineering Borg technology in an effort to reproduce Borg Transwarp Conduits, only ... without Col. Travis Patterson.

Col. Patterson had been accused of "attempted murder" of the Cardassian woman, Yani Damat, the apparent mistress of the Breen Thot, Yurl, who had claimed (and been granted) asylum in the Federation in exchange for intelligence on recent Breen activities. Adm. Sulyk had dispensed with formal proceedings (to keep the mission and activities of the Penumbra secret) and passed summary judgment on Patterson and sentenced him to 30 days in a Maximum-Security Prison at an Undisclosed Location. This sentence may have seemed extremely lax for "attempted murder", but the circumstances behind the action, and the results gained because of it, mitigated the situation such that the parties involved accepted this compromise. (See the Out-of-Character comments below.)

While serving his time, Patterson will spend his first 14 days in solitary confinement and the remaining 16 days undergoing "anger management therapy". We can only hope it does some good. If he can "behave himself" for this month, Patterson will be returned to duty and the Penumbra will return to pick him up.

While Patterson is serving his sentence, Cmdr. Relok has been assigned as the Executive Officer for the Penumbra. This makes LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris the Second Officer for this 30-day period, though he will continue to serve as the Chief of Operations. LtCmdr. T'Lin will be serving as Chief of Sciences during this time.

As for the Penumbra's mission, Thot Yurl revealed that, to his knowledge at least, only a single Battlecruiser has been fitted with a prototype of a modified Breen Transwarp Conduit Generator. Yurl claims that should that test be deemed a success, there are at least three other Battlecruisers scheduled for the upgrade shortly thereafter.

It is believed that the Breen's attempt to disable the Borg interlink node on the Transwarp module was only partly successful. The crew of the Penumbra base that belief on the fact that something on the Battlecruiser they saw at Lampros Three stimulated the residual Borg implants the Hawke siblings have, causing hallucinations. At this time, it doesn't appear that signal can reach very far, but should the main Borg Collective detect this signal, they will surely investigate.

As for the Hawkes' hallucinations, they have finally subsided, though they may reoccur when the Penumbra gets close to that Battlecruiser. And, the Penumbra needs to find this Battlecruiser and somehow make the Breen understand the technology is not safe for them to develop. Whether that means we talk them out of it, or that we sabotage their prototype, is up to us.

> OOC Note: The disciplinary actions against Col. Patterson are entirely In-Character. The Colonel (and his Player) has not been subject to any disciplinary actions from the official USF organization. While the Character of Col. Travis Patterson may be serving a penal term, the Player behind him remains the Co-Host of the sim. In addition, the Player will continue to play his other characters on the Penumbra (LtCmdr. Jason Carter, SgtMaj. Derek Hines, and MstSgt. Khal'Gon). The Character of Cmdr. Relok is a secondary character played by the Player of Cdre. Zak Taylor.  <

 

Bridge (and other locations):

Who's Where?

Cdre. Zak Taylor was standing at the port-side replicator on the Bridge, collecting a cup of coffee. Cmdr. Relok was sitting in the Executive Officer's seat just starboard of the center of the Bridge, while LtCmdr. Tabeshk Tibris, the new Second Officer while the Command Staff was shifted up a notch, maintained his usual post at the Operations Station on the port side of the forward-central console.

LtCmdr. Denovan Hawke, the ex-Borg Chief of Security and Tactical Operations for the Penumbra, was standing at his usual station at the Tactical Console on the port side of the central command area. He muttered, "I'm not particularly looking forward to this, to be honest." He was probably concerned about triggering more of the troubling hallucinations he and his sister, also a former Borg, had experienced when they'd first encountered that Breen Battlecruiser with the Borg enhancements, when they found it again.

To the starboard side, along the wall and behind the Primary Science Station, Lt. Jackson Carshel was sitting on the floor, a collection of papers and charts scattered around him. He was also munching on some chicken strips and some kind of cold beverage was in a cup with a lid and straw within reach. He mumbled something around a mouthful of food in response to Den's comment, "Mmfherber?"

Relok glanced at Carshel, surrounded by papers and sitting in the middle of the floor of the Sciences area. He raised an eyebrow, then shook his head and muttered, "You've worked with T'Lin just a bit too long, Lieutenant." The other Vulcan in the Sciences Department, LtCmdr. T'Lin, now the Chief of Sciences while Relok was serving as XO, also had a tendency to sit on the floor and had a penchant for archaic notebooks and pencils and printed papers.

Back at the front of the Bridge, across from Tabby, on the starboard side of the forward-central console, LtCmdr. Jason Carter was at the Helm, checking over all the various navigation systems since they'd been flying in Slipstream.

Down in Main Engineering, LtCmdr. Bevin MacArdry-Tibris, the Chief Engineer, was inspecting every aspect of the ship's warp drive and generator systems, just to make sure the "yard monkeys" back at the Starbase hadn't messed up the performance of "her baby".

In Sickbay, Dr. Shadow K'Trevala was quietly going through the medical inventory they'd restocked at the station, to make sure everything he needed was there, and to make sure he knew where everything was that he might need in an emergency. Once satisfied, he produced a roll of extremely fine-gauge wire, and something resembling a crochet hook, and sat down to work on a sort of faraday cage in the shape of a snood, that is, a bag, usually of fabric, pinned or tied on the back of a woman's head to hold the hair. He thought it might help curtail or interrupt any signals from that Borg technology the Breen had been working with, for his Assistant Chief Medical Officer, LtCmdr. Katarina Hawkem, at least. And who knows, maybe they could convince Den to wear one as well.

 

"Intake of caffeine is intact."

Satisfied with the flight mechanics, Carter commented, "This has been the smoothest ride in Slipstream yet."

Zak turned from the replicator, lifting his coffee mug. "Yeah," he said, "didn't spill a drop!" He smirked, blew on the hot coffee, and took a sip.

Den quipped, "Were you supposed to, Captain?" He and a few others still called their Commanding Officer the traditional "Captain", even though his official rank was Commodore.

Zak sputtered slightly on his coffee at the remark and answered, "Well, no, but ... you know what I meant!"

Den chuckled, "Yes, sir. I'm glad your early intake of caffeine is intact."

Relok recovered for the Commodore by asking, "Mr. Carter, do you have the coordinates the Thot provided for us? How far away will we drop out of the Slipstream?"

Tabby turned his head slightly to say, "I wondered about that as well, Relok."

Carter turned his head too and answered, "I'd say at Warp 8 we can get to the coordinates in half an hour."

Zak started back towards his seat just as the Turbolift doors slid open and a slightly exasperated LtCmdr. Katarina Hawke, their Assistant Chief Medical Officer, rushed out and onto the Bridge. She paused, faltering slightly and muttered, "Sorry I'm late."

The Commodore looked over at her and simply raised his coffee in a kind of salute, then gestured towards her station along the starboard wall, just forward of the Turbolift she'd just entered.

With a nod to the Commodore, Kat logged into her station. Since accepting she was human and no longer Borg, there were things she found she loved about being human, and coffee was one of them. But ... she didn't have time right now.

Relok responded to Carter, "Excellent, Mr. Carter. Nice plotting of the Corridor." He turned to Zak and asked, "Should we push it that hard, Commodore, or take a more cautious approach?"

Zak eased into his seat with his coffee then answered, "We might ought to come in a little slower, feel it out to see if our two ex-Borg get any more of those hallucinations."

"Unfortunately," Den said, "Sensors won't scan anything while we're still in Slipstream, so I'll have to get a reading once we drop out, sirs." He gave a small shrug and added, "Just dawned on me."

Relok turned to his right to address Kat, "Did Shadow, or you or your brother, come up with any way to shield you from those signals? Carshel? We don't really want another episode of having to confine you two."

Kat shook her head, "Not a more permanent one that I know of sir. Unfortunately, I haven't had any luck either. Den?" she turned to her brother.

 

Suggesting Brain Modifications

Den began, "Actually ...," but faded off. His eyes took on a far-away gaze for a second.

Carshel swallowed and then answered, "I ... uh ... sorry, sir." He dabbed a spot at the corner of his mouth and began again, "I was ... hoping ... that the Hawkes would be suitable for duty, considering the situation."

The Commodore turned to Relok and said, "Y'know ... right now, our ex-Borg are our only detection system of the Borg technology on those ships. I'd like a better system. Any ideas?"

Den came back to the here-and-now and muttered, "Sorry, saw a squirrel." Obviously there was no squirrel and it was just a figure of speech for being easily distracted. He continued, "I was supposed to elaborate. Um ...," he motioned with a hand as he spoke, "... a modification to our cortical nodes, for now, that will continue to monitor those signals and block them, kind of like a firewall. Those signals between it and our brains can be picked and chosen what is allowed and what isn't."

"But," Relok asked, "altering your cortical nodes could be dangerous, couldn't it? I mean, that is the very core of your brains."

Den began to explain. As he did, Kat's eyes drifted up to the ceiling. She was more recently Borg, and so, more recently returned to being human. She didn't care much for explaining how Borg stuff worked. Den said, "It regulates our bodily functions and the implants that couldn't be removed, yes."

Zak frowned slightly and said, "I think something like that should be carefully monitored. Shadow and probably Carshel should be involved, right? And I'm not sure I want my Chief Tactical Officer undergoing brain surgery just when we need him."

"Wait," Carter interrupted, "wasn't this ship designed with the Borg in mind?"

Relok gestured towards Carter, "He has a point. This ship was originally designed to combat Borg. There could be technology available to us that might be beneficial."

About that time the Turbolift doors slid open and the big Sergeant Major, now in full command of the Penumbra's Marine detachment with Patterson imprisoned, Derek Hines entered. He stood six-foot-six (easily taller than nearly everyone on the ship, except the half-Klingon, half-Nausicaan Marine, Khal'Gon who was over seven feet tall), and held a PADD in one hand. He moved quickly to the Reconnaissance Area of the bridge, along the port-side wall right beside the Turbolift. He didn't say anything just placed the PADD on the counter and logged into his station.

 

Focus

Den continued discussing altering their cortical nodes. "We may, potentially, just be able to program some nanites, like before, to do it. Potentially." He paused then gestured at Carshel, and Kat just beyond him, and with them implied Shadow down in Sickbay, and continued, "Though them involved, yes, would be the better idea, sir." Then he added, "I've only thought about it on paper, I've not tried it."

Carshel mumbled, "I can try."

Zak gave a slight shrug, then waved and said, "Well, let's see if we can find that Battlecruiser with the Borg tech. If either of you start having issues, let us know right away and we'll back off."

Den answered, "Yes, Captain. I'm alright and focused. Once we drop out of slipstream and have sensor ability again I'll scan for the ship. Both ways."

"Aye, Captain," Kat said. She might not have been quite as focused as her brother. Her gaze had flicked over to Hines, then back down to her console.

Carter re-focused them on his comment by saying, "Wasn't this ship designed to combat the Borg?" While phrased as a question, it was obviously intended as a statement reminding them of the fact.

Hines turned and raised an eyebrow at Carter, he'd missed the first mention of it. He turned to Carshel for the answer, since he was their "science guy" on the Bridge with Relok serving as Executive Officer for now.

Carshel mumbled, "Um, I'm not sure, ship-wise, but ...," his voice became firmer as he continued, "nanites are my thing, so ...," he trailed off, then switched gears. He glanced between Kat and Den and said, "If you'll allow me to poke around, knowing the risk, I'll see what I can do."

Den noticed Kat seemed slightly distracted. She kept flicking her eyes across at Hines. He said, "Want to help me with that, Kat? Or .. are you not ready?"

Kat frowned, "Yeah, sure, but ... I'm not feeling as focused as you are, Den."

As the ship emerged from the Slipstream Corridor into normal space, Den's fingers flew over his console to make scans in conjunction with the normal science and operations sensors.

Suddenly, some kind of "shadow" swept across the Bridge, starting at the starboard bulkhead and flicking across to the port side in about a second.

 

Anomaly

"What was that?" Tabby was first to ask.

Carshel's head flicked up. "Huh?"

Relok asked, "Tabby, was there a power fluctuation?"

Tabby checked and answered, "No, nothing's changed, power-wise. We're stable."

Kat blinked, then ran a hand over her eyes. "Yeah, definitely not as focused."

Carter scanned the Bridge and saw everyone's expression. "Okay, so all of us just saw that, right?"

Zak said nearly the same thing at nearly the same time, "So, everybody saw that, right?" He stood from the Command Chair, suddenly feeling nervous.

Hines flicked his gaze towards Den. "Security alert?"

Den snapped, "Oh, come on! Got distracted." He gestured and added, "That thing again?" He heard Zak's question and answered, "Yes, sir."

Kat seemed surprised that everyone saw something. "Oh, so I wasn't seeing things again?" She started running scans to see if the ship's bio-filters had picked up anything that wasn't part of the crew manifest.

Carshel said, "I don't see anything data-wise that wasn't some visual hack."

Relok stood and moved over behind Carshel to the Secondary Science Station. "What was that shadow then, Carshel?"

Zak turned to his Chief of Security, "Den? Any sign of us being scanned? Intruders? What the hell just happened?"

Den answered, "Not so far, but remember that shadow creature I mentioned a while ago when we were in Sickbay? It was the same thing."

Down in Engineering, Bevin began cussing up a storm, in standard Federation English and in her native Gaelic, something about the "yard monkeys" back at the base doing something to her ship. She'd picked up some kind of imbalance in the warp core. True, it wasn't something major, but it shouldn't have been there in the first place. It wasn't enough to bother calling the Bridge about, though.

Carter was watching the stars streaking by at warp, but something didn't fit right with him. He was one of the most naturally talented, even gifted, starship pilots in the galaxy, and had a "feel" for space and subspace that was almost supernatural. The stars didn't look right to him. "That's not normal," he said.

 

"What the hell just waltzed across my Bridge?"

Zak turned to his gifted Helmsman, "What's not normal?"

Carter switched the flight controls from automatic, computer-guided, control to manual. He grabbed both sticks and placed his feet on the attitude pedals. As he did he said, "Hang on, Commodore. I'm not quite sure yet, but ... we've got a bit of a drag to port, like ... something came out of alignment. Lemme just feel her for a bit."

Tabby watched Carter access the manual controls. "That's a good idea, but ... I don't like the fact that something is out of whack."

Zak made a face at Carter, then turned to Den, "What shadow creature? One of your hallucinations? Are we all hallucinating now?"

Relok turned from the Science console to look across the Bridge and said, "Mr. Tibris, do a full review of power levels to confirm it wasn't some kind of rolling power dip. I know you just checked, do it again, please."

"Yes, sir," Tabby responded and began another review of power levels.

The Artificial Intelligence known as MAX manifested his holographic face in the lower right-hand corner of the main viewer. "I'm not detecting any abnormalities. Shadow creature? Hallucinations?" It was apparent he had not "seen" this shadow at all in spite of his connections to all the ship's internal, and external, sensors. And, those sensors weren't limited to the visible portion of the spectrum detectable by the various humanoids on the ship.

Kat announced, "I am not picking up any bio signatures from the shadow, if it's still there."

Den finally answered the Commodore about the hallucinations. "I've all but had those stop ... not completely ... but, it's still the same one. I'm starting to suspect it's no hallucination. It did wound one of us after all, that shouldn't have been possible, not exactly. Our minds can manifest wounds, or cause us to do so to ourselves when asleep, or unconscious, or on drugs, sometimes."

Carter was finding he had to pull the sticks slightly to starboard just to keep on a steady course. He reported, "Yeah, we've got some drag on the port side, Commodore."

Carshel confirmed, "Huh ... there's a slight spacial distortion on the port side."

Zak was beginning to get a little freaked out, and it began to show as irritation. "Will somebody please tell me what the hell just waltzed across my Bridge?"

 

Shadow Demon

Relok, Science Officer and Vulcan, tried to soothe the tension. "Commodore, perhaps we should go ahead and call a Yellow Alert, just in case."

Hines didn't need further authorization. He stood from his station and tapped his commbadge calling the Marine Barracks, "All personnel move to immediate security sectors, and report battle readiness. Standby for further orders." He headed for the Turbolift, then paused as the door slid open automatically. He turned and asked, "Commodore ... permission to leave the Bridge?"

Zak glanced at his Chief of Security at the Tactical Station. "Den, signal Yellow Alert."

Den hit the alert button and a klaxon sounded and the lights flashed yellow.

Zak looked towards the big Marine standing at the Turbolift, "Hines ... permission granted. Secure my ship."

With a nod, Hines did an about-face and stepped into the Turbolift. Just as the doors began sliding shut he was heard saying, "Computer Core, Priority One."

Carter dropped the ship out of warp and reduced speed to one-half impulse, to see if the drift had something to do with the nacelles or the warp field geometry or subpace or something. But, it was still there. He said, "I can't figure out the cause of the drag."

"What about a tachyon burst?" Den suggested, then added, "I'm not getting anything so far on the Borg channels in my head."

And then, the shadow reappeared from the port bulkhead and moved to the center of the Bridge, but this time, it stopped there. Most just saw some kind of shadow, a strange dimming of the light in the center of the Bridge, vague and insubstantial.

But the Hawkes, both Kat and Den, saw more than a shadow. They saw the Shadow Demon standing in the center of the Bridge.

It stood there, staring at Den. Kat's eyes widened as she stared at the Shadow Demon as it stared at her brother. She wondered what the hell was going on. "Go away!" she ordered in a tone of both surprise and defiance.

Just as it had suddenly appeared, the Shadow Demon turned and zipped across the Bridge, exiting through the starboard bulkhead!

Den stood at his Tactical Console open-mouthed a moment then said, "Did that ... really just ...? It just ... stared ... right at me, and then went to the starboard!"

Suddenly, the drag on the ship that had been on the port side, shifted to the starboard side. Carshel noticed the spacial anomaly had moved and announced, "Sir, now it's on the opposite side!"

Carter had to jerk the sticks to port to counter the drag now.

Zak hadn't seen any demon thing, just the shadow, but still he said, "OK, now, what the hell is that?"