Chapter III: Reunited

Mar 27, 2019 7:29 pm
Cass, all preparations have been made. You are on the bridge of the pirate ship, carrying the Potential in your tractor beam behind you. Everything has been set up and you are ready to put your plan into action. Mezron and Davis are with you, running the ship.
Darcy is on the Potential's bridge, commanding the rest of the crew that you left there. Moira, as acting second in command, you are on the bridge as well, probably monitoring the adjustments you made to the Potential, namely, the biofilter gates. Kendall has been - against Darcy's wishes - put in charge of a security team, ready to intervene if any pirates manage to come aboard. Marbo is recovering in sickbay, although by the time you leave warp, Belka allows you to move around and resume work again, although he does warn you to not exhaust yourself too much.
After about an hour in warp, you reach the coordinates of the distress beacon and fall out of warp. In front of you, there's a single spacefleet ship, still some distance away. Everyone with access to a viewscreen who had been present during the initial kidnapping of your crewmates recognizes it as the USS Verdun, the ship that led the ambush against you...
Zephyr, you are leaning back in a chair, letting Lorq stitch up your wounds (Lorq, give me a Lasers roll). Meyers is sealing all entrances to the bridge and setting up security alarms. Alex, you suddenly notice a light blinking on a console close to you. When you go to inspect it, a readout tells you that two more ships have just entered the system...
Mar 27, 2019 7:36 pm
"Two ships entering the system!" Alex calls out. "Let's hope one of them is the Potential, shall we?" She sets her rifle on a nearby console and begins working away to identify the new arrivals. "Meyers, help me figure out who our visitors are. If they're friendly, let's get them on screen."
OOC:
Laser feeling edit:
While she's working with Meyers to identify the new arrivals, Alex adds, "While we're at it, let's lock down the hangar bays and prevent commands from outside of the bridge."
OOC:
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I'd be an expert with communications systems, even though I'd be rusty. Disregard the second die if you don't agree.
Last edited March 27, 2019 7:57 pm

Rolls

Lasers, expert - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (2) = 2

1d6 : (3) = 3

Mar 27, 2019 7:40 pm
Kendall tells the security team: "Alright, boys and girls! Stay frosty! We don't know what's gonna happen."

Kendall schools the security personnel in some basic hand-to-hand maneuvers to use to subdue the enemies if it comes to it, while they wait for some action.
Last edited March 27, 2019 7:40 pm
Mar 27, 2019 7:45 pm
OOC:
Alex, Laser Feeling! What do you want to know?
Mar 27, 2019 7:46 pm
Feeling a flutter in her stomach that she recognizes as a combination of nerves and anger, Cass pushes all emotion aside. "Initiate the canned message on a loop as a hail to the enemy ship," she says. They've created a very simple message in the slug clicking language that essentially says, "Communications array damaged in battle. USS Potential captured."
Last edited March 27, 2019 8:02 pm
Mar 27, 2019 7:54 pm
OOC:
Going to make an assumption that Cass's message came after my laser feelings, and I can't ask about that.

So... nuts.

Okay... is there a way from here to prevent the shuttle from leaving this ship?
Mar 27, 2019 7:55 pm
OOC:
You can easily close up all hangar bays. They can try to hack them open but it won't be easy if you lock all commands to the bridge
Mar 27, 2019 7:57 pm
OOC:
Original post edited in response to laser feeling.
Mar 27, 2019 8:01 pm
OOC:
Sorry if my post confused things.
Mar 27, 2019 8:03 pm
OOC:
No, no... it's just that I would've asked if I could recognize the message as fake. Now we're just all going to think we're doomed. More so than we were. Par for the course, right?
Mar 27, 2019 8:07 pm
OOC:
Yeah, I felt bad about going through with that, but we don't know you guys are in control of the bridge.
Mar 27, 2019 8:47 pm
Alex, you receive a message from one of the incoming ships. When you put it on speakers, it is spoken in the clicking language of the pirates. When you put it through the universal translator, it translates as: "Communications array damaged in battle. USS Potential captured." All four of you on the Verdun's bridge can hear it.

Cass, Mezron confirms that the Verdun is receiving and hearing your message.
Mar 27, 2019 8:50 pm
OOC:
Is anyone else picturing a "Gift of the Magi" situation, only with blood?
Mar 27, 2019 8:53 pm
OOC:
How much time passes without an acknowledgment from the Verdun?
Mar 27, 2019 8:56 pm
OOC:
Can't say yet. We'll have to wait and see how they react
Mar 27, 2019 8:57 pm
OOC:
NO. I want to know NOW.
Mar 27, 2019 9:00 pm
OOC:
They shoot, you dead
Mar 27, 2019 9:41 pm
Moira is religiously following the updates from her datapad about both the Potential and the pirate ship, though there's certainly less information on that. Was it really the same day as when this all started? Blazes.....
Mar 27, 2019 10:14 pm
As the channel is opened, tension floods out of Alex's frame. Rescue is here!

And then the message comes through.

Color drains away from her face, and she looks to Meyers and Zephyr in sudden despair. "Now what do we do?" she asks. For once in her life, she's at a loss for words.
Mar 27, 2019 10:14 pm
Zephyr leaps up out of the chair while Lorq is still at work.

"Che diavolo?" he mutters to himself. He runs straight to the console to search for life signs aboard the Potential.

Rolls

Lazors - (1d6)

(5) = 5

Expert scanner - (1d6)

(1) = 1

Mar 27, 2019 11:44 pm
OOC:
Sorry for the delay

Rolls

Expert medical roll - (2D6)

(21) = 3

Mar 27, 2019 11:46 pm
We can't catch a break. Let's scan and see how many there are. Do you think we should target them with the weapons and offer to trade their prisoners for ours? Maybe if we have the drop on them, they will listen
Mar 28, 2019 12:35 am
Waiting for someone on the Verdun to either answer their canned hail or to give some other type of response, Cass says, "Are sensors picking up any other vessels in the vicinity? I don't want to get caught in another ambush trap."
Mar 28, 2019 12:55 am
OOC:
I am not sure who is on sensors. I was but I switched to field medicine. If I am done there I will check for other ships and scan for life forms
Mar 28, 2019 3:48 am
Marbo goes to his office. After ensuring the door is sealed up tight he opens the bottom drawer of his desk, and reaches inside. When he withdraws his hand hes holding something he stashed there a long time ago, his phaser. Issued to everyone, marbo never liked the idea of murder or even stunning people, but he needs to be prepared. He sheaths it underneath the mechanical collar he is wearing, and begins typing furiously on his datapad
Mar 28, 2019 3:55 am
Machiabelly says:
OOC:
I am not sure who is on sensors. I was but I switched to field medicine. If I am done there I will check for other ships and scan for life forms
OOC:
I think it's sort of all hands on deck sensor-wise. Zephyr's alive enough to swear in... Italian?
Mar 28, 2019 7:06 am
Lorq, you finish up working on Zephyr's wounds. Until you have some more time and can use sickbay, this is the best you can do.
Zephyr, you scan the arriving ships. The pirate ship seems to be working with a minimal crew, the Potential shows a lot of life signs.

Cass (or whoever is working on the sensors), give me a roll for scanning
Mar 28, 2019 12:51 pm
OOC:
Either Davis or Mezron is working them, and they aren't real, so I guess I'll roll. This should go well.

Rolls

Obligatory failure exercise, prepared, expert - (3d6)

(112) = 4

Mar 28, 2019 1:00 pm
"There's one ship only a few lightyears away and two more close enough that they could be here within minutes", Mezron explains after looking over the scan results. "It also appears that at least one of them is scanning this system. They're already aware of our presence here."
Mar 28, 2019 1:02 pm
Cass uses her comm badge. "Cassano to Darcy. We've picked up three ships in the vicinity. Looks like they're using this ship as bait for another trap."
Last edited March 28, 2019 1:08 pm
Mar 28, 2019 1:07 pm
Moira looks to Darcy.

Think it's our folk? If not, tha weapons systems can be back online as soon as ah give tha order.
Mar 28, 2019 1:09 pm
"What kind of ships are they? Size, origin?"
Mar 28, 2019 1:10 pm
Moira

Darcy is sitting in the captain's chair, tapping on the armrest with her finger, her eyes focused on the screen. "Be ready to raise shields on my command. But let's give Cassano some more time. I see no indication that our bluff has been discovered, yet."
Mar 28, 2019 1:12 pm
Aye, Lieutenant Commander.

Moira has to admit. Darcy is her father's daughter. She looks like a natural in that chair. She wishes her pa was here to actually see his little girl stepping up.
Mar 28, 2019 1:13 pm
Cass

"Hard to say, commander", Mezron replies. "The closest one is definitely not Consortium. It's not a design I'm familiar with at all, actually. The others are too far away for a precise scan but I see indication that at least one of them might be Spacefleet."
Mar 28, 2019 1:19 pm
Zephyr paces the floor of the bridge a few times, his eyes scanning the floor as if reading some imaginary writing.

"I believe Lorq is right. Let's try to negotiate a hostage trade. Except I'm of the opinion we should not target them with our weapons first. Violence is more often an obstacle to conflict resolution, rather than a catalyst in my experience. We want them to know we're truly willing to negotiate."

Zephyr moves back over to the science station.

"Raising shields," and he presses a few buttons on the panel, "Alex, you seem like the negotiating type. Would you like to take the lead?"
Mar 28, 2019 1:47 pm
OOC:
There's still a runabout onboard this pirate ship Cass is commanding, right? How many and are there also shuttles?
Mar 28, 2019 1:48 pm
OOC:
Let's say two runabouts, no shuttles
Mar 28, 2019 2:03 pm
Alex nods curtly and takes a deep breath.

"This is Lt. Commander Alexandra Lloyd of the Consortium aboard the USS Verdun. We are willing to negotiate a trade of any Spacefleet hostages aboard your captured vessel for your fellows aboard this ship. We have no desire to escalate this conflict beyond a peaceful exchange and diplomatic negotiation."
Mar 28, 2019 2:24 pm
Cass raises her eyebrows. "Okay, it's looking better for the 'our people have command of the bridge' scenario," she says. She's leaving her comm badge open to Darcy to ensure that the Potential knows what's happening in real time. "Of course, this means we'll have to find a 'working' communications system. Patch me through the communications system on Runabout 1."
OOC:
For expedience, I'm going to proceed on the assumption that this is accomplished.
Cass scans her memory of the conversation with the parasite (avoiding the memory of its messy conclusion) and says, "We do not negotiate with meatbags. What have you done with our brethren? If you have harmed any of our brothers, we will bury you in particle filtration nubs until you beg for the sweet release of death."

For the love of the galaxy, please let this Alex person be up to date on her Spacefleet code words, Cass thinks.
OOC:
As a reminder, since this code was first introduced a bazillion pages ago and before 78RPMLife joined the game, the mention of "particle filtration nubs" is a code for asking if you are acting under duress. If you declare you're fully stocked with particle filtration nubs, you're not acting under duress. If you indicate that you are not fully stocked, you are signaling that you're under duress.
Mar 28, 2019 3:38 pm
I think we are negotiating with ourselves.
Mar 28, 2019 3:44 pm
OOC:
That's deep, man.
Mar 28, 2019 3:53 pm
Well, son of a...

Of all the things Alex expected to hear back, particle filtration nubs were not among them. She nods to Lorq, "I'd like to believe that. It's certainly unlikely anyone would happen upon that phrase by mere accident."

She pauses for a long moment before responding. "Your kind offer is appreciated, but we are fully stocked with particle filtration nubs and have no need for more. Your brethren are unharmed and have been given free movement about the Verdun, save for the bridge, which we control. When you decide you are ready to negotiate, we will gladly listen."

To the others, she says, "Let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we?"
Last edited March 28, 2019 3:53 pm
Mar 28, 2019 4:31 pm
The proper completion of the code makes Cass' heart leap a little, and not only because this Alexandra Lloyd has indicated that she's not under duress. When Cass had used the code on Capt. Ery-An, she hadn't recognized the code and had provided an answer that was outside of the protocol, suggesting that the slugs have no access to the knowledge of the host once they are in control of the body. Otherwise, Ery-An might have gotten Cass to comply if she'd simply indicated that she was not under duress.

All of which leads Cass to conclude that Lt. Comm. Lloyd is neither under duress nor a slug-host posing as a Spacefleet officer.

Giving a gesture to Mezron to mute her outgoing audio temporarily, she asks, "How many life signs are we reading on that ship?"
Mar 28, 2019 4:41 pm
Cass

"I am reading nineteen life forms, four on the bridge, the others spread out all over the ship. I can't determine which ones are infected and which ones aren't."
Mar 28, 2019 4:45 pm
Gesturing for Mezron to unmute her mic, Cass says to the negotiator, "To even consider making an exchange of hostages, we need to know how many of our brothers you actually have. We read nineteen life forms on the ship you've commandeered. How many of those are in your group of unruly meatbags?"
Last edited March 28, 2019 4:46 pm
Mar 28, 2019 5:04 pm
Alex mouths, "Unruly? Unruly?!" She looks over at Zephyr, comm muted to the other ship, and says with a teasing half-smirk, "They're talking about you, I'm guessing."

In response back to the (hopefully) fake pirate, Alex says, "We have fifteen of your brethren confined to the remainder of the ship that we would be willing to exchange. They are not currently unruly, but should that change, our negotiations by necessity will need to intensify."
Mar 28, 2019 5:14 pm
In the Potential's Bridge

Moira listens to the negotiations stiffly. She leans over to Darcy.

Want me ta lock onta the bridge's life signs? Just in case we need ta make a snap transport?
Mar 28, 2019 5:16 pm
OOC:
Which bridge?
Mar 28, 2019 5:22 pm
Moira

Darcy doesn't turn to look at you. Her eyes are still firmly fixed to the viewscreen. "Can you do that without revealing that we are still functioning?", she asks, speaking very slowly.
OOC:
If you're talking about the bridge with Alex, Lorq and Zephyr on it, I just remembered that they have raised their shields, so you won't be able to beam them out at the moment. YOu can still lock on to them in case the shields go down, though
Mar 28, 2019 5:58 pm
bowlofspinach says:
OOC:
If you're talking about the bridge with Alex, Lorq and Zephyr on it, I just remembered that they have raised their shields, so you won't be able to beam them out at the moment. YOu can still lock on to them in case the shields go down, though
OOC:
And Ensign Meyers. Don't forget Meyers!
Mar 28, 2019 6:08 pm
Cass feels a sense of deflation when the negotiator says there are only four "meatbags" involved in the incursion on the pirate ship. Her away team had been four people. If Lt. Commander Lloyd is one of this four, that means that at least one of her team isn't among them. In fact, she is pretty sure that the list of names sent in the distress signal included two that were unfamiliar to her. Apparently, two of her missing crew are still unaccounted for.

Now, how to ask the next question in a way that doesn't tip off the eavesdroppers as to her true nature and intentions, while still (hopefully) communicating the right subtext to the "meatbags?"

"We do not believe you are being fully honest with us about the condition of all the meatbags in your group," Cass says aggressively. "We believe that some of you are carrying our brethren within your bodies. You may not be aware that use of the transporter device will kill both our brethren and the puny host body, so it is in your best interest to be honest with us. How many of you have been... improved?"
Mar 28, 2019 6:23 pm
Zephyr responds to Alex, "Please. I am the ruliest."

He then steps near to Alex and says, "This is Lt. Commander Zephyr Borealis of the USS Potential. I have been 'improved', or so I've been told. The others on the bridge have not. There are also two other members of the Potential's crew on the ship that have not been located as of yet. I must insist they are located before the transaction is completed."
Mar 28, 2019 6:39 pm
Moonbeam says:
OOC:
Which bridge?
OOC:
Both. YEET.
Mar 28, 2019 6:48 pm
Alex starts to protest when Zephyr takes the comm, but she holds her tongue, reserving the right to chastise Zephyr later for his breach of protocol.
Mar 28, 2019 7:15 pm
Hearing this, Cass nearly swears explosively before remembering that she's on the open comm. So, Zephyr is alive, BUT he's been infected. And two of the other away team members are unaccounted for even to him. This is really a glass-half-empty kind of day.

It occurs to her that Zephyr doesn't recognize her voice. If he did, he wouldn't have demanded the location of his other team members, knowing that she is not actually a slug-woman capable of communicating with and demanding compliance from her fellow slug-folk. Either Zephyr is not at the top of his game, or the infestation is impairing him.

Of course, blundering into the middle of a negotiation out of turn was exactly something Zephyr would do.

"Since you are in possession of the bridge and I am not," Cass says with exacting precision, "how do you expect me to determine the location of your compatriots on that ship, Lieutenant Commander?"
Mar 28, 2019 7:32 pm
Zephyr mutes the communicator for a moment, and turns to Alex.

"I apologize for the interruption, but I know this woman. She is...or used to be...the commanding officer of the Potential. I wanted to see if she recognized my voice, but it seems she did not. If we could get her here, or me there, maybe I could get through to her."

Zephyr begins to move back toward the science station, indicating he is turning the comms back over to Alex, and unmutes the channel.
Last edited March 28, 2019 7:32 pm
Mar 28, 2019 7:42 pm
Alex closes her eyes, draws a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. Why oh why couldn't she have done better at those meditation classes she took? Ah well... mindfulness be damned.

She leaves the channel muted. "Lorq, Meyers, any of you," she says quickly. "Are their shields up? Could we lock on the commanding officer and beam her directly here?" To Zephyr, she adds, "I don't know if she was telling the truth or not, but I'm not taking chances that transporting you will kill you. You're irritating as hell," she says with a smile, "but I'm not ready to kill you. Yet."
Mar 28, 2019 8:21 pm
Checking for shields. May I say that if codeword were used on both sides, why are we continuing this charade.
Lorq says his piece and checks to see if shields are down.
OOC:
not sure if I need a roll or not but doing one just in case.

Rolls

Checking for shields - (2D6)

(35) = 8

Mar 28, 2019 8:22 pm
OOC:
OK I hit my number. I want to know if I can tell the difference on scanner between improved and not improved readings.
Mar 28, 2019 8:27 pm
OOC:
No, it appears that you can't determine the presence or absence of a parasite on your regular sensors.
And you can easily determine whether shields are raised or not. Cass' ships shields are up. The Potential's shields aren't
Mar 28, 2019 8:38 pm
Lorq scans our ship. Is there a path to the shuttle bay not blocked by the infected?
Last edited March 28, 2019 8:39 pm
Mar 28, 2019 8:39 pm
Moonbeam says:
bowlofspinach says:
OOC:
If you're talking about the bridge with Alex, Lorq and Zephyr on it, I just remembered that they have raised their shields, so you won't be able to beam them out at the moment. YOu can still lock on to them in case the shields go down, though
OOC:
And Ensign Meyers. Don't forget Meyers!
OOC:
Meyers is our red shirt.
Mar 28, 2019 8:41 pm
RobbOgden93 says:
Moonbeam says:
bowlofspinach says:
OOC:
If you're talking about the bridge with Alex, Lorq and Zephyr on it, I just remembered that they have raised their shields, so you won't be able to beam them out at the moment. YOu can still lock on to them in case the shields go down, though
OOC:
And Ensign Meyers. Don't forget Meyers!
OOC:
Meyers is our red shirt.
OOC:
I said that exact thing on Discord. Where the heck ARE you?
Mar 28, 2019 8:45 pm
Machiabelly says:
Lorq scans our ship. Is there a path to the shuttle bay not blocked by the infected?
Right now the corridors between the bridge and shuttle bay are free but the infected are moving around and could get in the way
Mar 28, 2019 8:45 pm
On the Potential’s bridge

Moira fidgets in her place. She’s ordered engineering to lock on to everyone and their pet turtle, but she’s antsy. She talks to Darcy while sending Cassano the same message via comm.

Darcy, this ain’t goin’ anywhere. Tha longer tha delay tha worse our chances are. Please. Let me beam ta tha pirate ship Cass is on. Ah’ll stage a fake mutiny, take tha comm, an’ ask ‘em ta bean me aboard ta rescue me. Ah’ll disable their shields. If it’s them, ah’ll help ‘em find tha others an’ give tha okay ta beam us all back. If it’s not, their shields’ll still be down. Yeh can extract me an’ any friendlies then open fire.
Last edited March 28, 2019 8:51 pm
Mar 28, 2019 8:47 pm
Zephyr is infected. If we do not get help soon it will be too late. Why not offer a trade? Send Zephyr in a run about to their ship, and the send someone to us. We are fairly sure it is a human controlled ship. But they seem loathe to just say that, and if we don't do something our position could be over run
Mar 28, 2019 8:58 pm
Zephyr, would you be willing to go to the other ship. It may be the only way to debug you.
Mar 28, 2019 9:04 pm
OOC:
What does M1-K3 look like on a life signs scan?
Mar 28, 2019 9:05 pm
OOC:
He wouldn't show up on a life signs scan since he doesn't have any life signs. You can scan for him specifically, though. He has a unique pattern that is saved on the Potential computers.
Mar 28, 2019 9:06 pm
Aboard the Verdun

"Leave the bridge? You saw that thing that attacked us... we hit it at maximum stun, and it still overpowered us like we were children," Alex says. "Going out there is a death sentence." She rubs a hand over her face and takes a deep breath. "Zephyr, if you're willing to chance it, I will propose the exchange. We can both drop our shields, and exchange you for another of your crew mates, while you get treatment."
Mar 28, 2019 9:06 pm
Moira

Darcy turns to look at you. "We shouldn't spring that on Cassano. We have no idea how her negotiations are going. Also, their shields are still up so you won't be able to beam over there anyway."
Mar 28, 2019 9:07 pm
Cass slaps her forehead and mutes her comm mic. "I can't believe I forgot this but scan the pirate ship for M1-K3."

Rolls

Where's Mikey? Prepared, expert - (3d6)

(222) = 6

Mar 28, 2019 9:16 pm
Darcy

Fair. Jus’ know ah’m willin ta stick mah neck out. Ah trust yeh.
Mar 28, 2019 9:21 pm
Moira

"That's good to know but you have nothing to prove, Lieutenant Commander", Darcy replies, her eyes focused again on the view screen. "Let's let Cassano do her thing. If that doesn't work, we can always still beam you to your certain death or infection.
Cass

Mezron adjusts the sensors and after a few seconds says: "I've set up the scanners to search for Lt. Comm. M1-K3 but I'm unable to find him. He is definitely not on board of that ship - or the one nearby that is scanning us for that matter."
Mar 28, 2019 9:24 pm
Darcy

With a perfectly straight face:

Thank yeh, Lieutenant Commander.
Mar 28, 2019 10:50 pm
Okay, so M1-K3 isn't on that ship, or any other within scanning range. There's no reason, then, to assume the other missing away team member is on that ship, either. So her priority, as Cass sees it, is to get the four people on the bridge safely to the Potential as soon as she can manage it.

But.

She can't beam all of them, because Zephyr is infected and it might kill him. She could beam the three uninfected ones safely... assuming they aren't really infected and just don't know it. Or do know it and this is all just a... no, that's unlikely. Focus.

The smartest thing would be to have them make their way to a runabout and fly to the Potential. But there are fifteen slug people on that ship. Their chances of their making it safely to the runabout seem relatively low.

Okay, so the second-smartest thing to do would be to send a security team via runabout to the pirate ship to pick up the Spacefleet officers and take out any slugs that got in the way. But she is afraid that a vehicle coming out of the Potential might prompt action from one or more of the ships watching from a distance.

Still muted to the pirate ship, Cass says, "Darcy? I'm thinking that we need to go pick up our friends on that ship with extreme prejudice. There are also a couple of ships watching this encounter from a distance, so we could stand to increase the size of our little fleet. Maybe if we send a runabout full of phaser-carrying badasses, we could even take over that ship and even the odds. What do you think?"
Last edited March 28, 2019 10:50 pm
Mar 28, 2019 10:53 pm
"We have security teams standing by that we can send over. If you can get that ship to lower their shields, we can just beam our people over. Or we can of course put them on a runabout as well. That's up to you"
Mar 28, 2019 10:55 pm
OOC:
Okaaaay... How is Darcy unaware of what's happening when Cass has had her comm open throughout her conversation with the pirate ship?
Mar 28, 2019 10:57 pm
OOC:
That's why Moira made some of the comments she did.
Mar 28, 2019 11:00 pm
OOC:
Oh okay, I did not realize. I thought you were keeping communications down.
Edited the previous post
Mar 28, 2019 11:01 pm
OOC:
Yes, ship to ship communications. We've been using comm badges as stealth communications right along, though, so that's what Cass was using here.
Mar 28, 2019 11:04 pm
OOC:
Im wondering if Kendall is listening in or not.
Mar 28, 2019 11:06 pm
OOC:
I guess once the topic of sending a security team comes up, Darcy will comm you and catch you up on the conversation quickly
Mar 28, 2019 11:14 pm
OOC:
Cass will expect Kendall to be on the strike team. :) Writing my new post now.
Mar 28, 2019 11:21 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"We have security teams standing by that we can send over. If you can get that ship to lower their shields, we can just beam our people over. Or we can of course put them on a runabout as well. That's up to you"
Cass takes a deep breath. "Okay, just be aware that we could have action from the spectators once they see use of the transporters. That will probably be a tip-off that slugs aren't running the show. Stand by to beam over security teams to the bridge of the pirate ship the instant their shields are down. The priority is maintaining control of the ship."

Unmuting her comm to the pirate ship, she starts speaking very quickly. "Okay, enough cuteness already. Zephyr, it's me, in case you really are that clueless and didn't recognize my voice. If not, then it's too bad you can't bluff like that on poker night, because you'd still have that vintage Magic 8 Ball I won from you last week.

"Here's the deal: you need to lower the shields right now so I can beam over reinforcements from the Potential to mop up the rest of the parasite people and maintain control of that ship. There are other ships watching from a distance that I believe will become very involved once it's clear that I'm not actually one of them. And I don't know whether they can actually hear the content of this communication, so those shields need to come down sooner rather than later. Questions? No? Good. Drop the shields."
Mar 28, 2019 11:29 pm
Yay for plain speech. I think we should drop the shields and get some backup. I don'tlike our odds here.
Mar 28, 2019 11:42 pm
Kendall is fired up. She cracks her neck, then remembering that she’s leading a group, says, "Stay frosty, peeps! Remember what I taught you."

She grips her phaser in her hand, ready to assault.

"Commander Darcy, I need you to send photos of anyone that I shouldn’t kill."
Mar 28, 2019 11:50 pm
Ah, Lass, why don’t I go with’cheh? If tha Lieutenant Commander’ll have it.
Mar 28, 2019 11:56 pm
"I'm still not sure if its her. Hmm, let me consult my magic 8 ball."

Zephyr shakes it furiously for a moment.
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/62/87/43/62874367dc7355ca6dcdb3675f5854f2.jpg

"Ok that's definitely Commander Cassano. I agree with Lorq."
Mar 29, 2019 12:36 am
Is that some form of a captive psychic lifeform?
Mar 29, 2019 4:42 am
Alex's eyebrows disappear into her hairline. Without looking at Zephyr, Alex says blandly, "She seems like quite a woman, your captain. This ought to be interesting. Hope she's really ready."

She opens the comm again and looks at Lorq while she counts. "Shields to go down in 10... 9... 8..."

When she reaches the end of her countdown, she points at Lorq to lower the shields.
Mar 29, 2019 5:01 am
OOC:
Since Lorq has repeatedly expressed his desire to cooperate, I'm proceeding on the assumption that he lowered the shields as Alex instructed.
The instant Mezron indicates the shields are down, Cass says, "Darcy, beam over the security teams now."
Mar 29, 2019 5:12 am
OOC:
Yes. I am fine with that.
Here goes something.
Mar 29, 2019 5:37 am
Lorq mutters under his breath.

Merengi rule of acquisition number 288 says...never ger into anything you can't get out of. I hope I am not breaking that.
Mar 29, 2019 6:43 am
Moirs

Darcy looks st you confused. "Are you sure you want to beam over there? I mean, as acting First Officer, it's your right to join any away team, but..." She pauses. "Do you even remember any of your security training?"
OOC:
If you want to join the security team, she's not going to stop you. Just let me know.
Kendall, Zephyr, Alex, Lorq, (Moira)

You beam over with the security team (and possibly Moira) and arrive on the pirate ship's bridge, right next to Zephyr, Alex, Meyers and Lorq. There are six security officers in addition to the PCs there. They are all equipped with the modified injector rifles that Marbo designed. They even brought some extras in case any of the other PCs want to join the sweep of the ship.
Mar 29, 2019 10:25 am
Kendall, once materialized, steps up to the one in the captain’s chair, phaser not drawn, clutching her "pen" in one hand and the back of the neck of the skipper in the other. She doesn’t squeeze, but holds it firmly as she says, "Now, no funny business. Everyone take a step away from your consoles slowly, and no one will get hurt."
Mar 29, 2019 10:39 am
OOC:
I don't know if she's sitting in the captain's chair but from how things are going, I assume that's Alex, that Kendall is holding
Mar 29, 2019 11:10 am
bowlofspinach says:
Moirs

Darcy looks st you confused. "Are you sure you want to beam over there? I mean, as acting First Officer, it's your right to join any away team, but..." She pauses. "Do you even remember any of your security training?"

You beam over with the security team (and possibly Moira) and arrive on the pirate ship's bridge, right next to Zephyr, Alex, Meyers and Lorq. There are six security officers in addition to the PCs there. They are all equipped with the modified injector rifles that Marbo designed. They even brought some extras in case any of the other PCs want to join the sweep of the ship.
Moira smiles.

Ah'll be yer eyes an' ears around tha Kendall Lass. How's that?

She leaves her comm link open, but set to record and output a written transcript to her datapad for Darcy and Cassano.
OOC:
(I figure if we have text-to-speech now in the 21st century, this isn't unreasonable.)
She remembers.....well, honestly, she remembers more about the bar fights in her youth than she does about her formal security training. Part of her is too stressed to not want to see the away team alive and well firsthand. Part of her wants to punch a slug in the disgusting mouth. So she goes willingly, breathing a deep sigh of relief when she sees the uniformed Spacefleet officers on the Bridge.

And, of course, tenses up again immediately when Kendall goes into "attack mode."
Mar 29, 2019 12:47 pm
HeroAmongMen says:
Kendall, once materialized, steps up to the one in the captain’s chair, phaser not drawn, clutching her "pen" in one hand and the back of the neck of the skipper in the other. She doesn’t squeeze, but holds it firmly as she says, "Now, no funny business. Everyone take a step away from your consoles slowly, and no one will get hurt."
OOC:
Our people already have the bridge. You're there to sweep the rest of the ship.
Mar 29, 2019 12:56 pm
Moira shakes her head.

Zephyr. Meyers. Yeh all right? Who're yer new friends? Where's Mike?
Mar 29, 2019 1:10 pm
Speaking into the comm to the Verdun, Cass says, "Cassano to security teams. Report."
OOC:
I haven't told anyone to report in many pages. It was time.
Mar 29, 2019 1:20 pm
OOC:
I know our friends have the bridge, but Kendall doesn't know these people from Adam. She is taking appropriate security precautions. She didn't even draw her weapon.
"Commander, we have the bridge. They have not complied with a direct order from security personnel as of yet. We do not know if these people are compromised yet.

"Standby."


She leaves her comm open and she squeezes the person's neck just a tiny bit, enough to get the person's attention.

"Command your team to take a step away from their consoles...NOW!"
Mar 29, 2019 1:23 pm
Cass sighs. "guys just do what she says so we can move o to the to the sweep."
Mar 29, 2019 1:31 pm
Moira glares at Kendall.

This always how yeh handle duress, Lass? Shoot first, ask questions later? Might ah remind yeh yer here so Cassano doesn't hafta putcheh in tha brig.

All of this will be sent to Darcy's and Cassano's datapads. She'd worry about being reprimanded for her tone, but aside from Zephyr she's the ranking officer in the room.
Mar 29, 2019 1:46 pm
Reading the data pad, Cass says, "Okay, Lt. Commander Bruce, you have the conn of the Verdun."
Mar 29, 2019 2:02 pm
Zephyr taps a final key on the console and steps away from it as directed, "I wouldn't do that if I were you Ms....what was your name again? As much as I appreciate your vim and vigor, something tells me that Lieutenant Commander Lloyd will not tolerate such aggressive behavior from someone she has never met." He puts emphasis on her rank to hopefully quell the apparent insubordination.

Turning to RC, he nods and says, "Lt. Commander," in a respectful tone. Observing the security personnel, Zephyr notes, "Ah excellent. Now we can track down the other members of the Potential crew! Be warned, most of the infected seemed to have been pretty easy to stun," pointing toward the wounds on his neck he adds, "but we have encountered one that came out of it shortly afterward and nearly took my life!"
Last edited March 29, 2019 2:03 pm
Mar 29, 2019 2:07 pm
Seeing no resistance from the people on the bridge, Kendall releases her grip on the person she gripped.

She says, "Sorry folks! We have had close calls with these worms before. I didn’t want to have any surprises.

"What’s the security situation on this ship? We need to find the easiest way to take full control, as there are other ships scanning the region."
Mar 29, 2019 2:08 pm
"I will thank you to stand down this instant. I did not put up with being kidnapped, subjected to medical tests, and having to creep through a hostile ship to face down a creature with three inch claws who attacked one of my mere three allies just to be needlessly threatened by you," replies Alex with thinly concealed anger. "As Mr. Borealis said, I am Lt. Commander Alexandra Lloyd. Let me go. Now.
Mar 29, 2019 2:12 pm
Everybody calm down! Nice ta see tha Potential isn't tha only ship that gets rankin' officers busy. So. Lt. Commanders Borealis an' Lloyd. An....Sir. (referring to Lorq) What's tha situation here? Any escape ships yeh've seen? Believe us. We've had nasty turns with'em too. Better shared over synthehol once this all blows over, though.
Mar 29, 2019 2:12 pm
OOC:
We'll just pretend Alex' post came before Kendall's
Mar 29, 2019 2:21 pm
"USS Verdun - everything okay over there?"
Mar 29, 2019 2:26 pm
Et's good, Commander. Well, good as it can be. Some slug injuries. They look pointier over here! Nasty business. We're determinin' available ships, an' where tha others may be. Good spirits otherwise! Any word on our watchin' friends, or from tha Antarctica?
Mar 29, 2019 2:30 pm
Cass checks with Mezron to see if the scans are showing any new activity.
Mar 29, 2019 2:33 pm
"The other lifeforms on that ship seem to be all moving in on the bridge now.", Mezron updates you in response to your question.
Mar 29, 2019 2:34 pm
Patiently, very patiently, Cass asks, "And our friends watching from a distance?"
Mar 29, 2019 2:38 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"The other lifeforms on that ship seem to be all moving in on the bridge now.", Mezron updates you in response to your question.
OOC:
Cass would also have passed this information to the Verdun.
Mar 29, 2019 2:39 pm
"Still not moving in"
Mar 29, 2019 2:41 pm
"Apparently our spectators aren't moving in yet. Focus on dealing with the parasites closing in on your position on the bridge. Take any opportunity to get the people who've been held prisoner to a runabout to take to the Potential's cargo bay."
Mar 29, 2019 3:01 pm
Aye, Commander. Kendall. Yer' tha shooty one. Take a security officer a yer choice, an' Lt. Commanders Borealis an' Lloyd ta tha runabout an' get 'em back ta tha Potential.

She turns to Zephyr and Alex, giving each a spare injector. You two are lucky this is tha worst of yer injuries. Ah don't want it gettin worse.

She then addresses the 5 security officers that Kendall doesn't take, and Lorq. The rest 'a yeh are with me. Strength in numbers fer tha fire fight comin' our way. Priority one is lettin' Kendall an' tha others outta here. Then, we find any other friendlies. There're at least 6 a' us. Plenty ta break off an' take folks ta tha second runabout while still providin' cover. Meyers, yer with us too. Sir. If yer trained in a phaser, or if yer technically inclined, ah'll take yeh. Otherwise, go with Borealis an' Lloyd.

She passes Lorq and Meyers her last spare injectors.

These were made by our good doctor ta take out slugs. As fer the phasers, set 'em ta tha highest settin' other than kill. Anythin' else won't stop 'em, and ah dread ta think what'll happen if they wake up. Any questions?
OOC:
Edited because, since Meyers was an NPC who wasn't actively dying, Lav forgot she was there.
Last edited March 29, 2019 3:14 pm
Mar 29, 2019 3:04 pm
"Are there any of those who you really want to save? If not, we could just transport them into space. Safer than hand-to-Hand combat."
Mar 29, 2019 3:09 pm
Moira shrugs.

Ah suppose that whatever yeh set yer phaser ta once we part ways is yer business, but we've got ships watchin' us. Tha transporter method, while fast, is gonna draw attention.

...

Unless....

Cassano! Permission ta transport all lifeforms ta this bridge.
OOC:
The hope being that a transport within the ship would be faster. Moira intends to send one last message first, just for protocol before murder.
Last edited March 29, 2019 3:10 pm
Mar 29, 2019 3:18 pm
"You mean, other than Lt. Comm. Borealis?"
Mar 29, 2019 3:20 pm
Obviously. He's already here. But maybe warn Medbay in case anybody surprises us an' they're still able ta be saved.
Mar 29, 2019 3:32 pm
"You do realize that the host is still alive right? So beaming the 'infected' into space is essentially murdering innocents?"
Mar 29, 2019 3:35 pm
"Well, actually, we've determined that once the slug is in control of the host body, the host is dead. But I am concerned about accidentally murdering anyone who hasn't been fully taken over yet."
Mar 29, 2019 3:40 pm
"Alright, can you get video feed of the people approaching the bridge? I need you guys to tell us who you want to save. We don't have much time. We gotta get you" (she points to Borealis) "back to the Potential for the doc to get that slug out of you.

RC, I am assuming you can do a selective transport, correct?"
Mar 29, 2019 3:40 pm
"Well then, I did not know that. What about Lieutenant Felt and M1-K3? Are they not on the ship?"
Mar 29, 2019 3:43 pm
"No sign of M1-K3. We can't distinguish Felt from any of the other life signs aboard."
OOC:
Thanks for remembering Felt's name! #SayHisName
Mar 29, 2019 3:48 pm
"Does the Verdun have a camera-based security system? You could try to look for Felt with that."
Mar 29, 2019 3:49 pm
Marbo makes sure the phaser is secured where hes hidden it on his person, and proceeds with his datapad down towards the cargo bay. Hes been running a plan over the ships network to all available hands to move some of the equipment to cargo bay 3, attempting to coordinate and guide them to creating a capable medbay. With moira gone from the ship, he is unsure of how he will have a bio filter activated over the cargo bay though.
Mar 29, 2019 3:52 pm
RobbOgden93 says:
Marbo makes sure the phaser is secured where hes hidden it on his person, and proceeds with his datapad down towards the cargo bay. Hes been running a plan over the ships network to all available hands to move some of the equipment to cargo bay 3, attempting to coordinate and guide them to creating a capable medbay. With moira gone from the ship, he is unsure of how he will have a bio filter activated over the cargo bay though.
I assume the door from the cargo bay to the rest of the ship is biofilter-secured. You probably don't want the cargo bay itself to be biofiltered
Mar 29, 2019 3:53 pm
OOC:
I've never seen any indication in the shows that they have security cameras, so I'm going to say there are none on the Verdun either

Rolls

Secret Roll

Mar 29, 2019 3:53 pm
Moonbeam says:
"Does the Verdun have a camera-based security system? You could try to look for Felt with that."
"Good idea, I'm sure it does. Let me run a quick check."

Zephyr moves over to the console and begins tapping.
OOC:
Edit: oops I assume you need a roll for accessing the cams. Adding it
Last edited March 29, 2019 4:02 pm

Rolls

Accessing Cameras - (1d6)

(3) = 3

Expert? - (1d6)

(2) = 2

Mar 29, 2019 3:57 pm
bowlofspinach says:
OOC:
I've never seen any indication in the shows that they have security cameras, so I'm going to say there are none on the Verdun either
OOC:
I didn't hear anything. Did anyone else hear something?
Mar 29, 2019 4:07 pm
Zephyr, you access the console, trying to access security systems to get a better overview of the situation but before you can get anything, both doors to the bridge suddenly open. From both of them, four people each jump into the room and immediately take cover behind various consoles and start shooting their phasers at your group. You can hear more clicking from behind the doors, so you know more infected are out there.
Two of your security officers get hit before they can make it to cover and fall to the ground. One of the pirates goes down immediately as well. The others continue shooting at you.

Let me know what you're doing.

Cass, the same moment that all this chaos breaks loose on the Verdun's bridge, which you would hear over comm, Mezron yells out: "Commander, the Verdun just raised its shields. We can't beam anyone out of there!"
Only a second later, you receive a comm from Darcy: "What is going on Cassano? Should we power up our systems?"
Mar 29, 2019 4:15 pm
"Stand by, Potential. Mezron, anything else going on outside of the Verdun?"
Mar 29, 2019 4:29 pm
"It looks like the closest ship's engines are powering up. We should get ready for their imminent arrival!"
Mar 29, 2019 4:32 pm
"Potential, power up. Disengage tractor beam from the Potential and ready our weapons. Prepare to defend the Potential until she's fully operational, and keep an eye on the Verdun."
Mar 29, 2019 4:39 pm
Marbo pings his badge.
"Commander, Zlam. I have an idea."

He pings to Moira

"Moira. Zlam. Can you drop the shields briefly. I have a plan. Secure the wounded if possible."
Last edited March 29, 2019 4:44 pm
Mar 29, 2019 4:41 pm
Cutting off the open connection from her comm badge to Darcy, Cass sends a message to the Potential. "Since the cat's out of the bag, we can now resume normal ship-to-ship communications. No sense messing around with cloak and dagger now."
Mar 29, 2019 4:42 pm
RobbOgden93 says:
Marbo pings his badge.
"Commander, Zlam. I have an idea."
"Delighted to hear that, Marbo. Spill it."
Mar 29, 2019 4:47 pm
Verdun

Moira looks to Zephyr.

Anyone not infected too long can be saved, but we hafta make a choice. Mine would be ta minimize further infection. The hosts'll hafta be in medbay anyway. And believe me. Marbo had 'is throat ripped out. Anyone else'll be fine.

She calls to Cassano, not yet frantic, but close.

Commander, give word! Ah can end this!
Last edited March 29, 2019 4:48 pm
Mar 29, 2019 4:52 pm
"Verdun, the ships in the distance are on the move. If you drop your shields now to kill the infected by transporter, you could be under attack soon, unshielded."
Mar 29, 2019 4:54 pm
"Commander. Shuttle would make a capable ambulance, provided the crew can ascertain a route of egress to wherever I can park it."
Mar 29, 2019 4:57 pm
The news is startling.

Ah ain't droppin tha shields! This is an inner-ship transport! If any infected are still alive, we'd actually be able ta reach tha medbay fer once.

She can hear clicking in the halls.....or can she? She doesn't want to find out.
Last edited March 29, 2019 4:59 pm
Mar 29, 2019 5:07 pm
Cass swallows hard and tries to ignore the heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach. "All right. Use the transporter as you see fit, lieutenant commander." She supposes it would be pretty un-captainlike to vomit on the bridge.
Mar 29, 2019 5:13 pm
OOC:
SO SORRY for the mixup, fam.
The pirates burst onto the bridge to the sound of phaser fire.
Moira looks over to Zephyr and locks eyes him.
Ah'm sorry.
She slams the transporter and sends everyone on the bridge to the medbay.
OOC:
ONE MORE EDIT HOPEFULLY
Lasers with prepared.
OOC:
Edited for LF change. Trying to intimidate. Rolling Feelings, Expert and Prepared (Booze, the LF, and unadulterated Scottish Rage)
Moira hears them enter, and slams her fist through the control panel, sending sparks flying. She douses it in whiskey, setting the entire console ablaze. Then, she turns to the pirates, grabs Marbo's stabber with one hand, sets her Phaser to "Kill" with the other, and uses two free fingers on each grip to claw bloody gashes into her cheeks. With a violent primal scream, she charges.
Last edited March 29, 2019 5:56 pm

Rolls

Feelings - One last chance to avoid genocide.... - (2d6)

(55) = 10

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - (2d6)

(32) = 5

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA (But this time, Feelings!) - (3d6)

(143) = 8

Mar 29, 2019 6:25 pm
Zephyr watches Moira in amazement, and ducks down behind the science station console to try to avoid being shot at. He stays crouched just enough that he can still access the terminal in front of him though.

"Activating the fire suppression system!" he yells.
OOC:
Laser Feelings huh? Let's see...does it seem like there's any way I could transport just their weapons without harming anyone?
Last edited March 29, 2019 6:29 pm

Rolls

Lasers - (1d6)

(4) = 4

Expert - (1d6)

(2) = 2

Mar 29, 2019 6:29 pm
what in the blue dilly hell is going on?

Lorq has no idea what this crazy person is doing but he knows that pirates bad, laser good. He takes aim at one of the attackers and takes his shot at maximum stun.
OOC:
I assume prepared since we had a plan.

Rolls

Pew pew pew - (2D6)

(26) = 8

Mar 29, 2019 6:30 pm
OOC:
You can see the whole dumpster fire unfolding on the Discord.
Mar 29, 2019 6:33 pm
OOC:
I'm helping, guys! I'm causing a diversion!
Mar 29, 2019 6:49 pm
OOC:
From what? Sanity?
Mar 29, 2019 6:55 pm
OOC:
I'm intimidating the slugs!! Or acting as a meat shield for the rest of y'all! :D
Mar 29, 2019 6:56 pm
Zephyr, you start working furiously on your console but the fire suppression system does not activate. For your LF: It's possible but very difficult. If you miscalculate, you might beam their hands away as well, or you might not beam anything at all.

Lorq, you hit one of the attackers with your syringe rifle and he goes down. A phaser beam misses you just barely and hits the wall behind you. Next time you might not be as lucky.
Mar 29, 2019 7:01 pm
Moira taps into both her bar fight days and her Academy training. She jabs one slug man in the throat with the back of marbo's gun, and phaser's another slug in the face.
OOC:
Are they intimidated?

Rolls

Feelings: Bar fight throat jab, prepared - (2d6)

(21) = 3

Lasers: Shoot it in the face, prepared - (2d6)

(12) = 3

Mar 29, 2019 7:05 pm
They definitely seem to be unsure about how to react to the crazy woman that just set her console on fire and scratched open her cheek. When you jump over your console at them, they move back, trying to keep some distance. When you swing at one of them, he ducks under your punch but then you hit one of the others with your rifle and he falls to the ground immediately.
However, as you look around, you see that you are surrounded. Two of the infected drop their weapons and jump at you to take you down. The others seem still a bit unsure of what to do about you. They turn back to the other PCs but don't shoot right away. You bought the others a re few valuable seconds.
Mar 29, 2019 7:07 pm
SPACEFLEET!! GET THA BLEEDING HELL OUTTA HERE! NOW!!
Last edited March 29, 2019 7:10 pm
Mar 29, 2019 7:11 pm
Reading a nonstop stream of gibberish with occasional words (some of them expletives), Cass opens a comm link to the Verdun in frantic bewilderment. "Moira? Zephyr? What's going on over there? Guys? Somebody?"
Mar 29, 2019 7:12 pm
Moira's just gonna scream an unintelligible string of expletives and the words "Transport" and "Now" over and over again until either they're safe, or her throat is ripped out.
Mar 29, 2019 7:13 pm
OOC:
You set fire to the console! Who's supposed to be operating the transporter now?
Mar 29, 2019 7:15 pm
OOC:
That's not my problem, is it? Spinach, you're welcome. I gave myself my own partial XDDDD

I mean, if you opened fire on us and took down the shields, you could transport us out.
Mar 29, 2019 7:17 pm
Rules of acquisition number 33. It never hurts to suck up to the boss.

Lorq takes a shot at one of the pirates surrounding the crazy lady.

Rolls

Pew pew pew - (2D6)

(54) = 9

Mar 29, 2019 7:17 pm
Cass

Suddenly, a strange spaceship drops out of warp only a few thousand kilometers away from the Verdun. It's smaller than the Potential, shaped like a rounded V and completely metallic green. You've never seen any ship of this make before.
Before you can react, the ship fires off two photon torpedoes, one at the Potential and one at your ship.
The pirate ship you are on gets shaken heavily as you get hit. Two consoles burst into flames but overall, you seem to be holding steady. "Shields at 62%!", exclaims Davis.
You watch as the other torpedo hits the Potential at the edge of its saucer section before they can completely raise their shields. A piece of it blows up and the Potential starts spiralling from the hit.

Marbo

You're doing preparations in the cargo bay, when suddenly, the Potential shakes violently. The red alert starts blaring through the speakers and the lamps start flashing red. Suddenly, a message in Darcy's voice sounds through the speaker in cargo bay: "Section 7A of the saucer section has been critically hit. Medical personell move to adjacent sections immediately!"
Mar 29, 2019 7:19 pm
"Fire phasers at the new ship, maximum power."
Mar 29, 2019 7:22 pm
Zephyr suddenly stands up confidently next to his console as if he isn't worried about being shot at all. He looks around for a moment as though he's calculating his next move. He pulls his tranquilizer rifle off of his shoulder and throws it on the ground near the infected troops at the door.

To no one in particular he yells, "YOU FOOLISH MEATBAGS WALKED RIGHT INTO OUR TRAP! BWAHAHAHA!"

He then charges at Lorq at full speed and attempts to wrestle Lorq's phaser rifle out of his hands!


He then pulls his tranq rifle off his shoulder and fires it at Lorq!
Last edited March 29, 2019 7:36 pm

Rolls

Feelings - (1d6)

(1) = 1

Prepared - (1d6)

(3) = 3

Rerolling, ignore the above - LASERS! - (1d6)

(1) = 1

Rerolling the prepared - (1d6)

(2) = 2

Mar 29, 2019 7:24 pm
OOC:
Lorq, unless you let Zephyr take your rifle on purpose, you'll be able to hold on to it

Lorq, you can make a Feelings roll to avoid the shot. I'll give you prepared, since you're expecting to be shot at (although not from this side). If you get two successes as well, you avoid the attack
Mar 29, 2019 7:28 pm
OOC:
Because this should really go well.

Rolls

Bang bang you're dead, prepared, expert - (3d6)

(623) = 11

Mar 29, 2019 7:48 pm
Son of a sand worm!

Rolls

Dodge duck dive dip didge - (2D6)

(63) = 9

Mar 29, 2019 7:49 pm
OOC:
Lorq, you get hit by the tranquilizer into your shoulder. You can feel yourself losing consciousness. You still have a few seconds to act before you pass out.
Mar 29, 2019 7:50 pm
OOC:
Record scraaattchhhhh
When the new ship fires on the Potential, Cass says, "Move this ship between the Potential and that new enemy ship! We'll try to give them some cover. Then fire phasers at... "Her voice locks up, because this is a totally insane order to be giving, but then, why should this day be getting saner over time? She clears her throat and resumes. "Fire phasers at the Verdun. We need those shields down so I can do something even more heinous."

Rolls

Friendly fire, prepared, expert - (3d6)

(411) = 6

Mar 29, 2019 7:56 pm
#53. Never trust anyone taller than you. I forgot 53.

Lorq takes a last shot at the traitorous bastard.

Rolls

Pfftt pfftt pfftt (darts not lasers) - (2D6)

(45) = 9

Mar 29, 2019 8:00 pm
OOC:
Wait am i in the saucer? or down in the neck, or near the cantrelles.
Mar 29, 2019 8:03 pm
Cass, you give the order to fire on the Verdun and after a second of hesitation, Mezron follows your order.
A phaser beam hits the Verdun, shaking it and damaging their shields. The shields are still holding, but barely.
In response, the newly arrived ship fires another blast at you (not at the Potential, since you're in the way) and drains your shields down to 39%.
At this point, the Potential raises their shields and fires at the newly arrived ship. They land a direct hit but its shields appear to be holding.

People on the Verdun, you are being fired on. Some consoles around you burst into flames and the ship automatically starts Red Alert.
The pirates shoot at you all and another member of the security team goes down after being hit by a phaser blast.

Lorq and Zephyr are both knocked out right now, Kendall is still fine and firing at the pirates, Moira is surrounded by the pirates and can give me a Feelings roll to see how she's doing
Mar 29, 2019 8:04 pm
OOC:
Robb, you're not in the saucer section right now but with turbo lifts it wouldn't take you long to get to the damaged section.
Mar 29, 2019 8:05 pm
OOC:
Feeeeelings

Rolls

Please don't die. - (1d6)

(6) = 6

Mar 29, 2019 8:07 pm
"Fire phasers at the Verdun again."

Rolls

Yeah, this is nuts, prepared and expert - (3d6)

(665) = 17

Mar 29, 2019 8:08 pm
Moira, the pirates around you move in on you. One of them grabs your shoulder and moves in to bite you but you manage to punch him in the face to stop the attack. Two more reach for your face.
You did not take any damage yet but you are still in immediate danger!
Mar 29, 2019 8:10 pm
Cass, you order Mezron to fire at the Verdun again this time, the shot goes wide. She gets ready to fire one more time but before she can, you are shaken by another phaser blast from the new ship again. You're shields are getting critical at only 25%
Mar 29, 2019 8:12 pm
Marbo finishes his final setup of the cargo-medbay, throws the spare supplies in the shuttle, and begins to move towards the turbolifts.
Mar 29, 2019 8:13 pm
"Mezron, Davis, beam yourselves into Runabout 1 and prepare for takeoff. I'll lower the shields and try to give you cover so you can get to the Potential."
Mar 29, 2019 8:15 pm
Marbo, you arrive at the edge of the intact part of the saucer section. There's some injured people lying around. You spot Belka who is currently using his tricorder to scan the obviously broken leg of a woman in Science uniform. There's a total of three more injured that you can see: Two men in security uniform and a woman in civilian clothes. You can't really tell their injuries without examining them further
Mar 29, 2019 8:17 pm
Cass

"That's suicide!", Mezron exclaims. "We can all beam onto the runabout together to get to teh Potential. I'm not leaving you behind, commander!"
Mar 29, 2019 8:20 pm
Kendall ducked behind a console at that moment, trying to assess what was going on. She's been double-crossed before, so seeing this kind of behavior doesn't phase her.

Upon seeing Lorq fall by his own ally's hand, she takes the "pen" in one hand, grabs her phaser (already set to max stun) in the other, and waits for an opening to shoot Zephyr. She will glance the console to see if she can find the controls for the shields and/or the transporters.

Rolls

Firefight (Lasers, Expert, not prepared) - (2d6)

(36) = 9

Bridge Panels Interpretation (Lasers, not prepared, not expert) - (1d6)

(5) = 5

Mar 29, 2019 8:21 pm
"Someone has to lower the shields for the runabout to leave," Cass says. "And then fire on the enemy ship to give the runabout cover. Go. That's an order."

Cass is really hoping that she'll be able to do all of that by herself.

Rolls

Go away, Mezron, unprepared, expert - (2d6)

(42) = 6

Mar 29, 2019 8:21 pm
"Belka. Zlam. Casualty count." Marbo says, before switching to shipwide comms.

"medbay hit. Need free hands to help with wounded. Status..." Marbo pauses to think and determine what status of emergency this is... "Red." He finishes.
Mar 29, 2019 8:23 pm
Kendall, you shoot one of the infected that's grabbing Moira, giving her a chance to escape (Roll, please, Moira). You see Zephyr going down after Lorq shoots him in revenge for being shot himself.
You also have a look at the console but in the stress of this situation, you are unable to make out any important information about the shields or transporters on them
Mar 29, 2019 8:24 pm
OOC:
Zephyr is already down.
Mar 29, 2019 8:26 pm
Marbo

Belka looks at you. "We're counting eight injured in total, one dead. We were lucky this section wasn't visited more heavily"

Cass

Davis starts working on the console, setting up the transport but Mezron stands up to face you. "No, commander. The crew needs you. If anyone has to stay behind, it should be me!"
Mar 29, 2019 8:36 pm
bowlofspinach says:
Davis starts working on the console, setting up the transport but Mezron stands up to face you. "No, commander. The crew needs you. If anyone has to stay behind, it should be me!"
Cass is unprepared for the intensity of Mezron's loyalty. It's touching, but there really isn't time for sentimentality. Cass puts her hands on the young woman's shoulders and looks her in the eyes. "I need you to do this for me, Mezron.
Last edited March 29, 2019 8:39 pm
Mar 29, 2019 8:38 pm
Kendall peers around a corner to assess the situation on the bridge.
OOC:
How many enemy combatants remain?
Kendall will take the person most threatening to a seeming ally and fire at them.

Rolls

Phaser blast (Lasers - expert, not prepared) - (2d6)

(43) = 7

Mar 29, 2019 8:39 pm
"Good. Spare hands en route. Marbos are full. I am returning to cargo bay to finish preparing the secondary laboratory for arrival of our away teams. Nearly prepared to recieve slugs and victims."

Marbo will help out until the spare hands arrive, and he will gradually recede while assigning tasks to the arriving assistance.
Mar 29, 2019 8:45 pm
OOC:
Kendall, before your shot, there's three of the original pirates left but you see four more come in through the doors.
You got a Laser Feeling so let me know what you want to know
Marbo, after a few minutes, two nurses show up and take over for you so you can return to cargo bay
Mar 29, 2019 8:54 pm
"Cassano to Potential. I'm sending Davis and Mezron in the runabout back to you. I'm going to try to give them and you cover from this new enemy ship. My shields are at 39%, so I don't know how long I can keep that up. Remember your priorities. Cassano out."

She attempts to hail the new ship.
Mar 29, 2019 8:55 pm
OOC:
rolling to scoot! If it succeeds, I’ll edit to shoot!!
OOC:
edit: darn it.
Last edited March 29, 2019 8:56 pm

Rolls

Feelings dodge - (1d6)

(1) = 1

Mar 29, 2019 8:59 pm
Moira, you try to use the opening to escape but one of the newly arrived pirates gets in your way, grabs you and bites deep into your shoulder. Escape from this situation seems to be getting more and more hopeless.
OOC:
You'll get another chance to escape after Kendall's shot. She got a Laser Feeling, though, so we'll have to wait for that first
Mar 29, 2019 9:10 pm
The Potential is moving towards your ship, Cass. It's shooting another phaser beam at the green ship and hits it again, although the pirates' shields are still holding.
"Commander, I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself!", Darcy's voice sounds over the comm as she's attempting to move the Potential between you and the pirate ship. "Our shields are still holding together well. Just get on the runabout with the others and we'll pick you up!"
The Potential can definitely take another few shots before losing shields but taking in the runabout is going to be very difficult without your shield in the way because they will have to drop shields to let the runabout in.
The pirate ship is firing up it's weapons again, ready to shoot another phaser burst at the Potential.
Mar 29, 2019 9:23 pm
Alex, from where she's taken cover behind a console, turns her phaser rifle up to one tick below 'disintegrate into component atoms' and fires at the closest infected, ideally one that doesn't risk an ally being hit by friendly fire. She knows all too well how poor a shot she is.

The entire business with Zephyr's seeming betrayal is going to have to be locked away in her brain until she has the opportunity to beat him senseless with her own two fists.

Rolls

Phasers - (1d6)

(3) = 3

Mar 29, 2019 10:35 pm
bowlofspinach says:
The Potential is moving towards your ship, Cass. It's shooting another phaser beam at the green ship and hits it again, although the pirates' shields are still holding.
"Commander, I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself!", Darcy's voice sounds over the comm as she's attempting to move the Potential between you and the pirate ship. "Our shields are still holding together well. Just get on the runabout with the others and we'll pick you up!"
The Potential can definitely take another few shots before losing shields but taking in the runabout is going to be very difficult without your shield in the way because they will have to drop shields to let the runabout in.
The pirate ship is firing up it's weapons again, ready to shoot another phaser burst at the Potential.
Cass is filled with a ballooning sense of indignation. "She's putting the Potential between me and the slugmother? Seriously? She doesn't even like me!"

It's clear now that Cass will have to pivot - again! - because of somebody doing the blatantly unexpected. She punches in the coordinates for runabout one, stabbing the buttons in time to her rapid rant."First, you're a stickler for protocol. All about the chain of command. Question my every choice. But I give you clear, unequivocal priorities, and what do you do? You put the ship in danger! For ME!" She stands up. "Just wait till your father wakes up, missy! I am so gonna tell on you."

She hits the button to energize, materializing onboard runabout one. At the startled looks from Davis and Mezron, Cass throws up her hands in a violent gesture. "Oh, yeah, it's a whole big thing. Get out of the pilot's seat! I'm taking over."

Before she's fully settled onto the chair, Cass is flipping switches and hailing the Potential. "Runabout one to Potential. We are preparing to drop the pirate ship's shields on my mark. Since you're hellbent on putting my ship in the line of fire, kindly give us a bit of cover for long enough to get out of the hangar bay."

Cass holds her hand over the console to which she has routed the ship's shield controls, waits a few seconds, and says, "Mark."
Mar 29, 2019 10:51 pm
OOC:
I want to know how to subdue the group most quickly. Is there a panel behind them that I can blast that will take out a large number of them?
Mar 30, 2019 5:11 am
Laser Feeling: I'm going to say yes, there is. If you set your phaser to the highest setting, you can blast the consoles behind the pirates which would take a lot of them out of the fight. However, that could also potentially hurt Moira (who is in trouble right now anyway) and possibly lead to trouble with the ship's systems (nothing that you couldn't work around, though)
OOC:
Let me know of Kendall changes her course of action or not
Mar 30, 2019 5:13 am
Cass, you and your two companions leave the pirate ship and fly towards the Potential. The firefight is still going on with the Potential and the pirate ship exchanging phaser bursts. You close in on the Potential's location and manage to stay in cover behind it for the most part.
OOC:
Give me a Lasers roll to see how your maneuver is going
Mar 30, 2019 5:57 am
OOC:
Lasers roll to see what the what.

Rolls

Hotshot pilot shit - prepared, expert - (3d6)

(136) = 10

Mar 30, 2019 6:14 am
Another phaser burst hits the Potential's shields and immediately, they return fire. Cass, Darcy calls you up:"We will drop shields right after their next shot. Get in immediately. We need to have our shields back up when they fire again!"
You get the runabout in position, lined up to the open hangar bay on the Potential and wait for another shot. It doesn't take long for the pirates to fire at the Potential again. The second their burst ends, the Potential drops shields and you fly full speed to the hangar bay. You make it inside, crash landing the runabout due to the high speeds. Mezron gets thrown out of her chair and hits the console in front of her. She lets out a yelp of pain but seems to be okay otherwise.
"Welcome back, Cassano!", Darcy announces. "If you're ready, please come to the bridge."
Mar 30, 2019 6:26 am
Cass helps Mezron up. "Sorry about that. I'd like to suggest you get checked out in sickbay, but I think they might be a little busy."

She leaves the runabout and the hangar bay and charges down the corridor to the nearest turbolift. The second the door opens, Cass storms onto the bridge, bellowing, "Captain on the bridge! Report!"
Mar 30, 2019 7:01 am
"The strange ship is still firing at us. Shields are down to fifteen percent but theirs can't be holding up much better.", Darcy explains. "What is going on with the away team?"
Mar 30, 2019 7:15 am
Cass isn't sure how to sum up what she read and heard coming from the Verdun. "Nothing good," is the best she can come up with under the rather pressing circumstances. "Hail the green ship. Let's see if we can start a dialogue prior to destroying each other."
Mar 30, 2019 7:29 am
Cass sits down in the captain's chair and the Ensign who's at the helm right now opens a channel to the pirate ship. They accept your communication but wait for you to speak first.
Mar 30, 2019 7:33 am
"This is Commander Shawna Cassano of the Consortium scout ship USS Potential. I understand that you are trying to perpetuate your species against some unique challenges. Before we blow each other into oblivion, maybe we could have a productive dialogue?"
Mar 30, 2019 8:16 am
"This is the captain of the spaceship Four. We are reading heavy damage to your shields. We are willing to open a dialog if you power down your weapon systems."
Mar 30, 2019 12:31 pm
"We're reading the same thing about your shields. Are you willing to power down your weapon systems?"
Last edited March 30, 2019 12:32 pm
Mar 30, 2019 1:21 pm
Kendall takes her phaser, and as she analyzes the situation (three enemies nearby and four more on the way), she waits for a second, putting her breathing mask on and sets her phaser to its highest setting, and shoots the panels behind them all.
OOC:
She will observe the situation in the Verdun prior to making her next move.
Mar 30, 2019 2:17 pm
Kendall

The console explodes, shooting sparks into the group of infected that has Moira surrounded. The explosion caused confusion and some of the infected seem to get hit worse than others and fall to the ground.
Moira, give me a roll to see if you get hit by the explosion or even manage to use it to your advantage.

Cass

There is a pause, the parasite captain seems to be hesitant to agree but their shields are probably in at least as bad of a condition as yours because then Mezron informs you that they are powering down weapon systems, although they are keeping them on standby, ready to power up again at a moment's notice.
"Speak, Commander Cassano", the voice over the comm demands
Mar 30, 2019 2:24 pm
Verdun

Moira wants to curse at Kendall, but in the current situation, she'd take a spitfire civvy over a traitor Slug-Zephyr any day.

Rolls

Feelings for Sparks - (1d6)

(6) = 6

Mar 30, 2019 2:28 pm
Moira, as the console explodes behind you and you get hit with a minor shockwave, the infected around you stumble, giving you an opening to get free and rejoin the rest of the group. You still have a nasty looking bite in your shoulder though.
The newly arrived infected begin shooting immediately, focused on Kendall and Alex. Can you two give me a Feelings roll to evade, please?
Mar 30, 2019 2:33 pm
OOC:
I'm going to be offline for a bit, so if I may, I'll get these out of the way now.
Moira is going to try to shoot one dude with the tranq gun as she scrambles, then switch to her phaser once she's with the group and keep shooting.
OOC:
For LF, do can I have any insights to the Potential, assuming the comm is still open?
Last edited March 30, 2019 2:34 pm

Rolls

BOOP - Lasers - (2d6)

(35) = 8

Pew Pew Pew - Lasers - (2d6)

(11) = 2

Mar 30, 2019 3:06 pm
Alex ducks back behind the console she’s using for cover, cursing loudly and creatively, questioning the parentage of just about everyone and everything: the pirates, the engineers who built the Verdun, Zephyr, and three or four other names that aren’t familiar to anyone else. Apparently, Zephyr has some recent ancestors who were dogs. Or possibly goats. It’s hard to hear in the commotion
Last edited March 30, 2019 3:47 pm

Rolls

Feelings - (1d6)

(4) = 4

Mar 30, 2019 6:16 pm
bowlofspinach says:
There is a pause, the parasite captain seems to be hesitant to agree but their shields are probably in at least as bad of a condition as yours because then Mezron informs you that they are powering down weapon systems, although they are keeping them on standby, ready to power up again at a moment's notice.
"Speak, Commander Cassano", the voice over the comm demands
Cass has routed the audio feed from runabout one to the data pad she's been carrying, which is muted now but still getting a running transcript feed from Moira. It seems indisputable, from this evidence, that Zephyr has turned on them and sided with the parasites. This news is both horrifying and liberating, simultaneously.

She taps out a written message on the datapad and shows it to Darcy. Try Moira's comm. Tell her to get the Verdun's shields down ASAP.

Reopening audio with the "spaceship Four," Cass says, "I'm aware that your species is just trying to find a way to continue. That's a natural and understandable desire, and it's one that the Consortium would be sympathetic to, if you'd just consider pursuing a diplomatic option. There is no need for this to proceed into outright war. And it will, I promise you, if your people continue on this path.

"The Consortium has been kept apprised of recent developments and is working on both a military response and a diplomatic one. I suspect that those decisions are going to happen far above you and I, but couldn't we two, here and now, elect to pause the local hostilities long enough to see if we, as individuals, can find some hope of common ground between our peoples?"
Mar 30, 2019 9:21 pm
Kendall looks over her shoulder to get a look at the infected coming through.
OOC:
As they fire, hopefully her reflexes are fast enough to get avoid the enemy fire.

Rolls

Feelings (Prepared, Expert, though better at doling punishment than taking it) - (3d6)

(162) = 9

Mar 30, 2019 10:42 pm
Kendall, Alex, you both manage to avoid the phaser fire directed at you. After Kendall's maneuver and the many shots fired by the security team, the attacking infected are thinning, their assault is almost at an end. Everyone still involved in the fight, give me one more roll, Laser or Feeling, whichever you think is appropriate, and tell me what you are doing. I'll wrap up the combat after receiving messages from Alex, Kendall and Moira. Lorq and Zephyr are unconscious, so they'll have to sit this out unfortunately.

Cass, you receive another reply: "We do not see any possibility for a peaceful solution since you have been unwilling to consider giving us hosts to inhabit but we are willing to listen to any reasonable proposition. I am unable to make these kinds of decisions for my people but if I see the possibility of a peaceful arrangement, I am willing to present it to the queen."
(Cass, are you powering down the Potential's weapon systems?)
Mar 30, 2019 11:28 pm
OOC:
Spinach, this sucks. Which, in context, is a compliment.
Moira is just gonna yell and punch the last slug she sees. She is so done.
OOC:
Edit: If it’s allowed, I want my LF to be "Is Zephyr still in there, or is it only Zuuhl?"
If that’s not allowed, will I have any long-term damage to my arm?

I would like to know if it’s my left or right, but that’s not what I’m using for LF.
Last edited March 30, 2019 11:31 pm

Rolls

Feelings: Slugs? Why’d it hafta be slugs? - (1d6)

(3) = 3

Mar 30, 2019 11:35 pm
bowlofspinach says:
(Cass, are you powering down the Potential's weapon systems?)
OOC:
Heh, I was wondering if I could slip that past you. Yes, Cass had weapons placed on standby, matching the green ship's actions.
bowlofspinach says:
Cass, you receive another reply: "We do not see any possibility for a peaceful solution since you have been unwilling to consider giving us hosts to inhabit but we are willing to listen to any reasonable proposition. I am unable to make these kinds of decisions for my people but if I see the possibility of a peaceful arrangement, I am willing to present it to the queen."
Cass holds up the data pad with the instructions about contacting Moira on it and gives her a look that says, Where are we on this?

To the parasite captain, she says, "And I don't make decisions for my people, either, but if we could even lay some groundwork for peace talks, my superiors would certainly be willing to listen. The problem, as I see it, for your people is one of numbers. A member of your species told me there are only a few hundred of your people. There are trillions of humanoids. Now so far, your path toward conquest has probably seemed pretty easy, but that's because no organization with any power or authority was aware of your activities. That advantage is gone now, and you can expect the full force of the Consortium and many other governments to band together to stop you. A war between my kind and yours will have at least one inevitable result: genocide of your people."

Cass pauses briefly to let that sink in. "Now, in spite of everything that's happened to me and my crew today as a result of meeting your people, I actually don't want to be part of wiping out a civilization. I believe that the diversity of life in the universe is sacred and something to be celebrated and protected. I also believe that if your queen would engage in a good faith diplomatic effort, it is possible that we could come up with some arrangement that both our peoples could live with. I know that it seems unlikely to you, but that's because you are focused on forcing compliance with your demands instead of seeking mutually beneficial compromise.

"Please believe me - many of the species who are now satisfied members of the Consortium started out as adversaries. Diplomacy continues to exist because it gets results. You and I can resume shooting at each other and one side will triumph, but what good is that if all it serves is to ensure the eventual annihilation of your species? I truly think that a compromise could be found if your queen is willing to consider it, and that could save all of us from a lot of unnecessary pain and death."
Mar 31, 2019 12:08 am
Alex remains in cover, though she does look out every so often to see if she has a point-blank shot or an opportunity to club a pirate. When she sees neither, she remains safe.
Mar 31, 2019 5:38 am
Kendall assesses the situation, and then she decides on a course of action: she will step out, shooting a standing slug host in the leg, and then she will tumble out of cover, shooting another in the process. Then with her "pen" in hand, she will stab a third in the femoral artery, then from a crouched position, jabbing the final baddy by the throat as she uses the spring from her jump to break their wind pipe, shooting him in the chest, then she will use the meat bag as a shield, turning herself until she sees that all enemies are down; any still up will have meatbag thrown at them, then jab/shot in kidneys with the barrel of her phaser.
OOC:
She plays this in her head similar to minute 1:35 onward in this video of Sherlock Holmes.

Rolls

Lasers (prepared, expert) - (3d6)

(356) = 14

Mar 31, 2019 8:01 am
OOC:
Moira, it's your good arm that's been injured, whichever that is.
Laser Feeling: Zephyr couldn't have been turned very long ago by the slugs, so it should still be possible to save him. While he has no control over his body at the moment, he is still conscious and knows what is happening around him. If he survives this, he'll definitely need therapy

Cass

"We have not encountered resistance like the one you're offering before. It is true that this war seems unsustainable. However, it is easy for you to suggest peace. Your species can survive on it's own. We are the ones that continuously require new hosts so we can live."

Verdun

Alex, you stay in cover I for now, trying not to get shot. Moira, you try to swing at another of the infected but she dodges your attack easily and fires her phaser at you. You immediately go down and lose consciousness.
Kendall jumps into the action, shooting, hitting and stabbing her way through the infected. She's doing very well but while ramming her pen into the neck of one of the hosts, she forgets her surroundings for just a second, enough for another infected to punch your arm, right at the elbow. With a loud crack, it folds in the wrong way, very obviously being broken by the force of the attack. Your pen goes flying wide through the room at this, blood spraying out of your target's artery with full power.
The attacker grabs the heavily bleeding infected and pulls him towards the door. You can see the wound closing before they even reach the exit. Although some of the infected are still alive and conscious, they retreat, trying to carry some of their tranquilized comrades with them, leaving your heavily injured group behind. The threat still exists on the ship but for now, the combat is over.
Mar 31, 2019 8:36 am
"AAAAAHHHHH SHIT!" She yells as she suffers the pain of the blow.

She stands, her right arm an absolute mess, and frustrated that things didn’t go exactly as planned. She looks at the panels now, saying, "RC, transport all infected into this room. We end this now."

She walks around, scrounges her "pen", and then walks up to Alex: "Now, can you help me snap this back into place, and then brace it?" She tears a part of her coat sleeve, acquiring a strip long enough to sling her arm with, hands it to Alex, and then puts the broad side of the pen in her mouth and bites down after saying, "Now, please."
Last edited March 31, 2019 10:38 am
Mar 31, 2019 8:50 am
OOC:
That would be a Lasers roll with an extra die for help from Kendall.
Mar 31, 2019 1:14 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"We have not encountered resistance like the one you're offering before. It is true that this war seems unsustainable. However, it is easy for you to suggest peace. Your species can survive on it's own. We are the ones that continuously require new hosts so we can live."
Cass gestures to mute her microphone and says, "What do the sensors show regarding the other ships that were in the area?" She wants to see if the captain of the Four is stalling her until reinforcements arrive.
Last edited March 31, 2019 1:14 pm
Mar 31, 2019 1:53 pm
"They're still there, scanning the area. But they don't seem to be moving in. At least not yet", Mezron explains
Mar 31, 2019 5:05 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"We have not encountered resistance like the one you're offering before. It is true that this war seems unsustainable. However, it is easy for you to suggest peace. Your species can survive on it's own. We are the ones that continuously require new hosts so we can live."
Cass resumes speaking to the captain of the Four. "I promise you, captain, suggesting peace with your species is anything but easy for me. You enslave humanoids for your own survival, which violates the most sacred principles of my people. On top of that, you exploited our generosity by kidnapping members of my crew who were on a mission to help what we thought were survivors of an accident. And then, when one of your kind claimed to be on a diplomatic mission, I brought him aboard, only to have him attack several crew members and try to kill me and a doctor trying to help him."

The cold recitation of all the reasons against making peace with the parasites is probably a bad idea, since it momentarily re-stokes the rage she felt earlier. Cass takes a moment to tamp it down before continuing. Going back into "blast the bastards" mode won't help the team members stranded on the pirate ship, or the Potential.

"So I don't blithely propose making peace because it's 'easy for me.' At the moment, the vast majority of my being wants to destroy you all to ensure you never get to steal anyone else's life. But that's a primal urge, just like your impulse to enslave to survive, and primal urges can be controlled. So just as I'm rising above mine, I'm asking you to rise above yours.

"Sure, a starving person can eat by stealing food from someone who has it, even by killing them to get it. But they stand a better chance of surviving in the long term if they ask for help instead of just taking what they need. And usually, they have something to offer in exchange that makes the other person more likely to help them. I suspect that there are things our two peoples could exchange that would make life better for both of us. But the only way to know is to actually discuss the possibility."
Mar 31, 2019 5:48 pm
"You speak as if you actually mean your words, commander, which is a useful gift to have for a leader.", the captain replies over the intercom. "We hold knowledge far beyond what you think. You think we are just some uneducated barbarians but our queen possesses the knowledge of dozens of species. We know all about your own history, human. We know about how your kind enslaved billions of lesser creatures to slaughter and consume them. Do not preach to us of your most sacred principles when your own kind only still exists thanks to the suffering of billions of sentient lifeforms."

The voice stops abruptly. It sounds as if the parasite you are talking to is struggling with a similar conflict as you are.

"You speak of exchange, of value for both sides in a partnership. We hold knowledge of civilizations long gone and technology far beyond what you possess but we do not require anything from your kind except your bodies. What value would there be for us in this partnership?"
Mar 31, 2019 5:49 pm
Alex stands up as the last of the invaders leave. As Kendall approaches, she gives the other woman a look of wide-eyed disbelief. "While I appreciate your confidence, I can’t begin to tell you what an awful idea that is. Let me wake Lorq up, and he can help you without ripping your forearm off by accident."

She moves over to kneel beside Lorq, checking through his possessions for a stimulant delivery syringe. Finally finding some, she jabs the doctor with it to wake him up. While he comes to, Alex also wakes up Moira.
Mar 31, 2019 6:12 pm
Moira rolls over, curses when she leans on her arm, and sits up, rubbing her head.

Ah’m.....oof. Ah’m awake. Hoo. Had worse. Not in a while. But still. Hoo. How about we transport back, eh? Shouldn’t be hard ta drop tha shields given what ah did earlier. Oof. An’ ah have a hunch Zephyr might still be in there somewhere. But damn. If he isn’t, Lorq, ah’ll look tha other way so we can....ah....deal with ‘im.

She looks up at Alex and Kendall, somehow not surprised that they were the last two standing.

Thanks.
Mar 31, 2019 6:25 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"You speak as if you actually mean your words, commander, which is a useful gift to have for a leader.", the captain replies over the intercom. "We hold knowledge far beyond what you think. You think we are just some uneducated barbarians but our queen possesses the knowledge of dozens of species. We know all about your own history, human. We know about how your kind enslaved billions of lesser creatures to slaughter and consume them. Do not preach to us of your most sacred principles when your own kind only still exists thanks to the suffering of billions of sentient lifeforms."

The voice stops abruptly. It sounds as if the parasite you are talking to is struggling with a similar conflict as you are.

"You speak of exchange, of value for both sides in a partnership. We hold knowledge of civilizations long gone and technology far beyond what you possess but we do not require anything from your kind except your bodies. What value would there be for us in this partnership?"
Cass closes her eyes and curses the day she ever listened to Captain Darcy's mentorship about her personal potential and untapped capabilities. That unwarranted delusion is what has led to her being in a position for which she has absolutely no qualifications: trying to debate philosophy with a new species and negotiate a peace she herself is having trouble justifying on any rational grounds. She is in so far over her head that she can't see daylight in any direction. This is why there should be a ship's counselor on every Spacefleet ship of scout class or above.

She takes a deep breath and speaks with great deliberation, mostly to give herself time to form the thoughts she's about to express. She has a feeling if she doesn't get through to this captain soon, it's back to the shooting, and she doesn't know how many more hits the Potential's shields can take. "Why do people always think that the worst elements of a foreign culture's history define that culture, but only the best of their own history defines theirs? Do you even hear yourself? You just chastised my people for dismissing you as barbarians, when you've given us no opportunity to know anything else about your culture. But you claim to know 'all about our history' and somehow the fact of our significant triumphs over our worst flaws doesn't figure into your calculus of our overall value.

"And I'm sitting here, with absolutely no reason to believe that your culture is anything but murderous barbarians, offering to try to find common ground on the basis of nothing more than that my culture was once thought to be that way, too, and we turned out to be so much better than that. I'm asking you to take that same leap of faith, given that you claim to already know what we can be as well as what we were."
Mar 31, 2019 6:44 pm
So, what did I miss? That looks like a bad break, let's get this fixed up.
OOC:
I will tend to the broken arm and any other injuries. Laser roll expert and with help.

Rolls

Doctory stuff. - (3D6)

(241) = 7

Mar 31, 2019 7:01 pm
Lorq

The break is clean and doesn't look complicated. You can easily fix it up for now and put it in an improvised sling. Once you get access to some actual medical equipment it will be a quick routine job to completely mend the wounds. You won't even have to roll for it again. Kendall, you can't really use that arm for now but you're not in any significant pain and other than that, you aren't getting hindered by it.

Cass

"Yes, it is true that you overcame your need to consume lesser creatures. Unfortunately, that is not an option for us. We have tried alternatives, robotic bodies with artificial nutrients, but none have been satisfactory. Your encounters with our race have been unfortunate. We are not barbarians, although it is only natural that you would get that impression if you only encounter us on the battlefield. Many of us are scholars, historians, scientists. Our queen might well be the wisest creature in this entire quadrant."

He stops speaking for a moment and your helmsman calls out: "They're requesting video communication."

Before you can respond to that, the captain of the Four speaks up again: "Our very nature makes it impossible not to take the bodies of other beings but that does not mean we are monsters. I have two mothers, I have a partner, I will have a child soon. We are sentient, feeling, thinking creatures, exactly like you."
Mar 31, 2019 7:17 pm
Cass frowns at the request for video communication. Why now, after all this time on audio? Still, she doesn't see a reason to refuse it, so when the captain of the Four finishes her statement, she nods at the helmsman to establish the video feed. It gives her something to focus on beyond the fact that it appears that her attempt at diplomacy is failing.

She wonders why Darcy isn't obeying her order to contact Moira about getting the Verdun's shields down. It would be nice to succeed at one thing during this encounter.
Mar 31, 2019 7:28 pm
Addressing Moira, Alex says, "If we transport off this cursed hunk of metal, won’t we kill Zephyr? Not that I don’t want to castrate him and force-feed him his own testicles at the moment," she says with a disturbingly sweet smile, "But it seems that taking that risk would be counterproductive."

She goes over to stand above the unconscious science officer and prods him (not very gently) with her toe. "We should tie him up. Tightly. Before he wakes up on his own. I would like to think his actions are the result of a parasite, but I think we’ve all seen what these creatures can do. Let’s not take chances."
Mar 31, 2019 7:37 pm
Quote:
She wonders why Darcy isn't obeying her order to contact Moira about getting the Verdun's shields down. It would be nice to succeed at one thing during this encounter.
OOC:
Sorry, I missed that part. Getting on it now
The viewscreen changes to show the interior of the pirate ship. From the looks of it, the captain doesn't seem to be on the bridge, or if he is, its layout is very different from that of a Consortium ship. He is sitting at a table with no other visible crewmembers around him. His face looks strange. He appears to be human but his bone structure looks different. His head is very thin with extremely prominent cheekbones and an unnaturaly wide jaw.
"Commander. To aid us in our peaceful negotiations, I thought it might make sense to look into each other's eyes."
Moira, right after being woken up, you receive a communication from Darcy: "Lieutenant Commander Bruce, this is the Potential. Commander Cassano is requesting that you drop shields immediately. We are going to get you out of there."
Mar 31, 2019 7:50 pm
bowlofspinach says:
The viewscreen changes to show the interior of the pirate ship. From the looks of it, the captain doesn't seem to be on the bridge, or if he is, its layout is very different from that of a Consortium ship. He is sitting at a table with no other visible crewmembers around him. His face looks strange. He appears to be human but his bone structure looks different. His head is very thin with extremely prominent cheekbones and an unnaturaly wide jaw.
"Commander. To aid us in our peaceful negotiations, I thought it might make sense to look into each other's eyes."
Cass maintains the eye contact and tries to ignore the reaction to the captain's alterations to his human appearance. She offers a faint smile. "I'm happy to add the visual dimension, but I'm not sure how it can help, since you seem utterly unmoved by every argument I've made.

"One thing that I'd like to point out, however. You've claimed that you've tried alternatives to consuming the bodies of other beings by force, but I wonder if you've tried the simplest alternative - looking for volunteer hosts and then sharing control. There is at least one other species of symbiote who lives that way, and by all accounts, it is a successful approach for both host and symbiote."
Mar 31, 2019 7:57 pm
Quote:

Moira, right after being woken up, you receive a communication from Darcy: "Lieutenant Commander Bruce, this is the Potential. Commander Cassano is requesting that you drop shields immediately. We are going to get you out of there."
Moira sighs in relief and heads to the console.

Sorry, Lloyd We dunnae have that luxury. Our doctors can put a ripped throat back tagether. Zephyr’s dead fer sure if we don’t go back. And honestly? So’re we.

She speaks to Darcy hopefully via the data pad.

Shields are down, Darcy. What’ll we do about Zephyr? Is killin’ a slug gonna hurt Cassano’s talk?
Last edited March 31, 2019 8:05 pm

Rolls

Lasers - prepared but not an expert because, well, I tried to be clever. - (2d6)

(22) = 4

Mar 31, 2019 7:59 pm
The captain pauses in his tracks. You recognize his expression as one of a man whose argument has just been shut down by an unexpected point and who's trying to recover quickly.
After a moment, he says: "That is an interesting proposition, commander, and not one that I have personally ever thought about. I can't speak for the queen, however. She might know reasons that speak against this path that I am unaware of."
His eyes narrow at you suddenly. "But since you have proposed this possibility, tell me this: Would you be willing to share your body with one of us? Or are you just offering us empty words with no weight behind them?"
Mar 31, 2019 8:09 pm
bowlofspinach says:
The captain pauses in his tracks. You recognize his expression as one of a man whose argument has just been shut down by an unexpected point and who's trying to recover quickly.
After a moment, he says: "That is an interesting proposition, commander, and not one that I have personally ever thought about. I can't speak for the queen, however. She might know reasons that speak against this path that I am unaware of."
His eyes narrow at you suddenly. "But since you have proposed this possibility, tell me this: Would you be willing to share your body with one of us? Or are you just offering us empty words with no weight behind them?"
Cass sighs. "Are you suggesting that for the proposal to be worth considering, I have to personally be willing to offer my own body? I'm telling you that there are individuals who willingly enter into such an arrangement with another symbiotic species. This is a fact that can be easily verified. I don't understand why you are suggesting that the possibility of finding another such arrangement is contingent on my personally volunteering for it."
Mar 31, 2019 8:10 pm
Darcy hands the datapad to Cass without a word, letting her read Moira's question herself instead of asking it in a way that the pirate captain might overhear
Mar 31, 2019 8:18 pm
"I don't care about you personally, Commander Cassano. What I care about is that you are only giving us empty words. You speak of others that might be willing to give us what we need while keeping your own hands out of the fire. I can make you a million promises on behalf of others but I am sure you know that they would be meaningless."
He suddenly stops speaking as hectic clicking from outside the frame of the video feed begins and takes his attention away from you. The captain makes a gesture with his hand and suddenly, sound cuts out. After a few seconds, the sound comes back online and he turns back to look right at Cass. "We are reading that our ship has dropped its shields. If even one single one of my people gets killed by your transporters, these negotiations are over."
Right as he finishes speaking, Darcy says: "Pirate ship powering up their phaser banks."
Mar 31, 2019 8:25 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"I don't care about you personally, Commander Cassano. What I care about is that you are only giving us empty words. You speak of others that might be willing to give us what we need while keeping your own hands out of the fire. I can make you a million promises on behalf of others but I am sure you know that they would be meaningless."
He suddenly stops speaking as hectic clicking from outside the frame of the video feed begins and takes his attention away from you. The captain makes a gesture with his hand and suddenly, sound cuts out. After a few seconds, the sound comes back online and he turns back to look right at Cass. "We are reading that our ship has dropped its shields. If even one single member of my race gets killed by your transporters, these negotiations are over."
Right as he finishes speaking, Darcy says: "Pirate ship powering up their phaser banks."
Cass puts up her hands in a calm down gesture. "Wait, wait, wait. Hold on, captain. My people are in control of the bridge, and all they want is to come back to my ship. That's the only reason the shields are down. They want to come home.

"Please note that I haven't powered up our weapons systems yet. My intentions are exactly as I've stated all along. I want to find peace with your people. I wouldn't risk losing my people on your ship, and the ones on this ship, by pulling a fast one at this point. All I want is to bring my people on board the Potential."
Mar 31, 2019 8:49 pm
"You may beam your people to your ship but I will be observing my people's life signs and if even one of them suddenly disappears, I will make sure that every single member of your crew, including yourself, will die."
Mar 31, 2019 8:55 pm
"Thank you. But there is a sort of gray area issue here. One of my people has been implanted with one of yours. And while he seems to be under your person's influence, we are aware that he is well within the window where the arrangement is not yet permanent. He was one of the people that I sent into your ambush - the one where we thought we were helping strangers in need."

Cass takes a deep breath. "If we agree to return your person to you unharmed, can we have my crew member back? Your misgivings aside, my earlier suggestion was sincere. I think we could pursue a voluntary symbiotic arrangement for you down the road, but only if there is some evidence to suggest that you're willing to make compromises. This would be a tremendous gesture toward demonstrating that."
Mar 31, 2019 9:18 pm
The captain hesitates before finally replying.
"Removing her from your crewmember will be dangerous. We would need to rejoin her with a child's body." He pauses. "But as a gesture of good faith, I am willing to cooperate. We will bring your crewmember on board of this ship and separate the two creatures, so you can take back your crewman."
Mar 31, 2019 9:31 pm
Now Cass hesitates. She had hoped to recover Zephyr and separate him from the parasite on board the Potential. But if the procedure is as dangerous as Nameless Captain suggests, it might be best to leave it to the obvious experts. She nods.

"All right, that is acceptable. I will go ahead and beam over just my, uh, unjoined people now. We will leave the crew member known as Zephyr Borealis for you to separate from your individual, with the understanding that you will return him to us once the procedure is complete. I would like to suggest that you allow my chief medical officer to observe the procedure remotely. If things get tricky, he could offer suggestions from his knowledge of human physiology."

She pauses again before saying, "Thank you for this gesture. I realize that this represents a huge concession on your part. And I feel strange not having a name by which to address you. If possible, I'd appreciate it if you could teach me to say your name."
Mar 31, 2019 9:46 pm
"Cassano to Verdun Spacefleet members. We are preparing to transport all of you who have not been implanted with a... symbiote to the Potential. Lt. Comm. Borealis will be undergoing a procedure to remove the symbiote from his body separately. Please have all other Spacefleet personnel stand close together on the bridge, well away from Lt. Comm. Borealis so that we can ensure that we take only the people I am authorized to remove.

"I realize this isn't what you were expecting, but please understand that if we don't abide by these terms, you will not survive the consequences, and the Potential probably won't, either. Please acknowledge."
Mar 31, 2019 11:06 pm
Moira acknowledges.

Commander, at this point, we all just want ta go home, ah think. Blazes. If there’s still somehow a way outta this that doesn’t require killin’ a slew a’ folks, Ah’m impressed. We *won’t* tie up Zephyr in that case. An’ as far as ah know, most other slugs should just be stunned.

She’s not entirely convinced, but as she told Alex. If something didn’t happen soon, they were dead. And Zephyr was quickly becoming a loss, so heck. If the slugs can save him, awesome. If not, he was gone anyway.

As a precaution, she asks Alex and Lorq to help her drag all of the slugs (including zephyr) down the hall so the bridge is totally clear, then they huddle up.

Take us home.
Last edited March 31, 2019 11:10 pm
Mar 31, 2019 11:21 pm
Cass acknowledges Moira's communication and says, "Cassano to temporary medbay. We're beaming the crew members from the Verdun directly to you. Expect some injuries. We have no reason to believe any of them are infected, but check them for it anyway."

She disconnects and then hails the transporter room. "There's a cluster of humanoids in a corner of the Verdun's bridge. Beam all of them to the temporary medbay in the cargo bay."

To Darcy, she says, "You have the conn. I'll be in the temporary medbay."
Mar 31, 2019 11:34 pm
Anyone coming down the hall to the medbay can hear Moira complaining loudly. She's bleeding from her face, and has a wicked gash in her right shoulder, but she seems unfazed.

Come, now! Git yer hands offa me, ah'm not tha priority. Miss Kendall needs ta get her arm checked, see if it's set right. An' These are officers from tha Verdun. Blood ain't tha only trauma, an' ah'll thank yeh ta see ta them, first.

She sees Cassano, and for once, her face betrays exhaustion.

Cap'n.
Apr 1, 2019 12:08 am
Cass is taken aback by Moira's slip, which marks the first time anyone has mistakenly used "captain" to address her. Taking in both the exhaustion and cuts on the engineer's face and the substantial carnage to her shoulder, Cass steps in close and says, "Stop terrorizing the med staff, you old space hag, and let them do their jobs. There's enough treatment to go around." Her tone is gentler than her words, and she puts a hand on Moira's uninjured arm. "Care to introduce me to the new kids?"
Last edited April 1, 2019 12:39 am
Apr 1, 2019 12:09 am
The arm is set right. I am very good at my job.
Lorq's tone is one of injured reproach. He jumps right in helping the wounded and doing what he can to help.

He introduces himself to anyone he doesn't know.

I am Lorq, a doctor, how can I help?
OOC:
Has Lorq actually done any testing on people after they have been taken over? If so, he will offer any info on the parasites that may be useful.
Apr 1, 2019 12:38 am
"Dr. Lorq, I'm Commander Cassano," Cass says, extending a hand to him. "Welcome to the Potential. I'm sure the med staff will be thrilled to have another doctor to lend a hand with all our casualties just as soon as they've had a chance to check you out."
Apr 1, 2019 1:24 am
Moira is a little embarrassed by the slip, too, but she doesn't mind, really. She smiles at the "space hag" comment.

Momentarily.

Lorq, yer a doctor? An' what casualties? How many? Where's Marbo? An' - feck. That's Lieutenant Commander Alex Lloyd. An' -

She sighs, slumping her shoulders, and wincing when she moves the bite.

Commander, ah'm gonna get this taken care of. Let me know what yeh need when yeh need it.
Apr 1, 2019 1:32 am
Nice to meet all of you, I wish it was under better circumstances. I have no injuries, there is a broken arm, a bite, and what looks like some electrical burns
Apr 1, 2019 1:51 am
lavtodd says:
Commander, ah'm gonna get this taken care of. Let me know what yeh need when yeh need it.
"Now you're talking. Just relax and let them fix you up. You've earned a little downtime."
Machiabelly says:
Nice to meet all of you, I wish it was under better circumstances. I have no injuries, there is a broken arm, a bite, and what looks like some electrical burns
"Doctor, what ship did you serve on? And how long were you help captive by the pirates?"
Last edited April 1, 2019 1:56 am
Apr 1, 2019 2:48 am
OOC:
I am not sure of those answers although Lorq most certainly is.
Apr 1, 2019 2:54 am
OOC:
I thought I remembered a post where Spinach gave you the lowdown on your Spacefleet background, so I went back and found it:
bowlofspinach says:
Lorq, it has been a few weeks since the attack on your ship. You have been serving for a few years now on the USS Sigma under Captain Ery-An and despite all the prejudices against your species, you managed to become the ship's doctor.
It had been a regular day when the Sigma responded to a distress call in an insignificant system. You weren't on the bridge, so you don't know exactly what happened but somehow, a boarding party managed to get onto the ship and took a large number of your crewmates captive, you among them. Since then, you've spent most of your time in one prison cell or another. You're only allowed to leave the cell rarely to help your kidnappers with medical exams on their people or other captives. You don't know exactly what they're doing to their prisoners but you've seen a number of your former crewmates join them, which usually results in them ignoring you and acting as if they don't even know you. You've also noticed that the entire pirate crew, including the people they took out of the Sigma's crew, seems to be stricken with some sort of disease. You've seen their conditions get visible worse even over just these few weeks. They turn pale, their hair goes gray and they grow frail, sometimes appearing as if they can barely stand upright. You've helped the pirates sometimes with decreasing those symptoms but most of the time, they rely on their own doctors.
Today, you have been taken out of your cell again and moved to the sickbay of the Consortium ship that you are held on. You have been told to perform the "standard tests" which means they have captured new people today. The standard tests are nothing complicated: a blood sample, a DNA test, hormone analysis...
Apr 1, 2019 3:10 am
"Hey Doc, how long ‘til my arm is fixed? I really need to get back to security."

Kendall will look to Cass and says, "I wasn’t able to resolve the situation on my own, but we were able to subdue the majority of those things. I did want you to know something I discovered while I fought them, but I’m a bit more privacy."

She tugs on Cass’ sleeve and pulls her to a corner of the room and whispers in Cass’ ear: "I stabbed one of those guys through their femoral artery, which should have been a fatal blow. However, it seems that these creatures are able to rapidly heal their hosts.

"It was a disconcerting realization. Disabling the host body does not reduce the threat level; only death of the slug would remove the threat.

"Perhaps we should identify ways to portably deliver the bio filter. I can work with engineering on a solution, if you would like."
Last edited April 1, 2019 3:11 am
Apr 1, 2019 3:19 am
Cass processes what she's just been told. Rapid healing of a fatal injury - wow. That is certainly an interesting piece of information they hadn't had before. She looks at Kendall. "Why did that require privacy?"
Last edited April 1, 2019 3:20 am
Apr 1, 2019 3:40 am
I am from the Sigma and have been captive a few weeks. I have done some medical tests and work on hosts. Any information I have is yours.
Apr 1, 2019 3:58 am
Alex stands up from the medbay bed she's been sitting on, where the deep scratch on her face has since been fixed. "Commander, I'm Lt. Commander Alexandra Lloyd, a Consortium diplomat stationed aboard the USS Sigma along with Dr. Lorq. We were taken at the same time," she says. "Like the doctor here, I am happy to share anything I know with you. But first, I want to offer my deepest apologies. I tried everything I could do prevent your science officer from being infected, as did Lorq." Her eyes tighten, but that is all the emotion she shows as she continues. "I ask... if I may..."

She takes a deep breath, and she raises slightly shaking hands to straighten her uniform, even though it's torn, charred from exploding bridge consoles, and generally in sad shape. "I will gladly do all in my power to help you bring him back safely," she says, smiling thinly, "I do not enjoy failing."
Apr 1, 2019 4:49 am
"I didn’t want to incite panic among the crew.

"My job is not what information to distribute or not; that’s your job. Mine is to give you information, and to assess and deal with security threats."
Apr 1, 2019 6:46 am
HeroAmongMen says:
"I didn’t want to incite panic among the crew.

"My job is not what information to distribute or not; that’s your job. Mine is to give you information, and to assess and deal with security threats."
Cass nods. "Okay. Thanks for this information. I think it might help me a lot more than you can even guess. As for your other question... don't start on anything just yet. I need some time to process some things. But we will talk about it again."

At this point, the conversation is interrupted.
78RPMLife says:
Alex stands up from the medbay bed she's been sitting on, where the deep scratch on her face has since been fixed. "Commander, I'm Lt. Commander Alexandra Lloyd, a Consortium diplomat stationed aboard the USS Sigma along with Dr. Lorq. We were taken at the same time," she says. "Like the doctor here, I am happy to share anything I know with you. But first, I want to offer my deepest apologies. I tried everything I could do prevent your science officer from being infected, as did Lorq." Her eyes tighten, but that is all the emotion she shows as she continues. "I ask... if I may..."

She takes a deep breath, and she raises slightly shaking hands to straighten her uniform, even though it's torn, charred from exploding bridge consoles, and generally in sad shape. "I will gladly do all in my power to help you bring him back safely," she says, smiling thinly, "I do not enjoy failing."
"Welcome to the Potential, Lt. Commander. I appreciate your willingness to help. As it happens, I could really use a diplomat right now. Since you've been cleared, let's have a chat in my ready room. "

She takes Alex by the elbow and guides her out of the cargo bay and into the corridor, not speaking again until they have entered the turbolift. She folds her arms and leans against the wall. "This is my first command, and it's really not been my day. So on the long, long list of things to happen that I was not prepared for, I found myself a little while ago in the position of having to engage in diplomatic first contact with a species that has been kidnapping humanoids and consuming them as hosts."

The turbolift opens onto the bridge and Cass steps out, holding out a hand as an invitation for Alex to follow, and then proceeds to the ready room. Once inside, she gestures to the couch as the most comfortable place for Alex to sit and offers her something from the replicator. She gets a cup of coffee for herself and sits down in the chair that is not behind the desk. Cass rests her head in one hand for a moment. She's really tired, but then, the woman on her couch has been a prisoner of an alien race for weeks, so what's she got to complain about? She lifts her head again and looks at Alex.

"I have no right to ask anything of you before you've even had a chance to rest, have a shower, and put on a clean uniform, but I'm way out of my depth right now. During the course of my attempt to negotiate with the captain of that new pirate ship out there, I suggested that the Consortium might be willing to enter talks with that species. I don't know if that's actually true, so I'm hoping you can provide some insight on that." As Alex looks ready to open her mouth to answer, Cass holds up a hand to stop her. "No, wait, it gets worse than that. I actually suggested that the Consortium might be willing to discuss providing volunteers to act as hosts for the para-- symbiotes. With the stipulation that the symbiotes would share control rather than dominate them."

Cass springs up from the chair and begins to pace around the room. "How would we enforce that? No freakin' clue! But I was basically grasping at straws to keep them talking instead of shooting at us or taking off with you and the other Spacefleet prisoners at the time. And of course, there's the question of incentive - what could possibly motivate humanoids to voluntarily agree to share control of their bodies and lives with a symbiotic being in the first place? Who would do that? Would I? Of course not! Unless..."

She comes back to the chair and plops down into it again. "What I needed was something the para-- symbiotes have to offer humanoids, and just now, I think Kendall gave it to me. They have the power to rapidly heal host bodies of even mortal injuries. I don't know if that extends to diseases, too, but it seems pretty likely. So now, maybe I have a justification for my otherwise insane suggestion, and a possible way to extend these peace talks. And this captain seems to be listening. I mean, he agreed to remove the symbiote from Zephyr and return him to us, and I'm hoping that's..." She stops talking abruptly, rubbing her forehead with the hand not holding the coffee cup. "I sound crazy, don't I?"
Last edited April 1, 2019 7:35 am
Apr 1, 2019 6:54 am
Cass, a message appears on your personal computer. It reads "There's a message for you from the captain of the Four"
Attached to it is the following note:

Commander, we are transporting your crewmember to the Four at this moment. We hereby formally invite you to our ship to observe the procedure. We guarantee you protection as our guest. You may bring a delegation of trusted officers with you.

Signed,
FF2FVFV2VV22F


Kendall, your arm gets fixed up and while it is a bit sore around the elbow when you move it, it won't hinder you in any way anymore.
Lorq, after you get looked over and the medical staff determine that you are well, you are asked to help with treating the other injured.
Alex, before you leave with Cass: Your cut is treated and disappears completely. It wasn't very deep, so there are no complications with it.
Marbo, you take care of the injuries of the other crewmembers. There's a lot of work to do, many people have been hit by phasers or have otherwise sustained injuries so they take your mind off of your thoughts for revenge, at least for a moment.

Moira, your treatment takes a bit longer than everybody else's. You have some light electric burns from when the console exploded, you have been hit by a phaser at maximum stun, and your cheeks are scratched open. Doctor Belka takes care of your injuries and he fixes you up rather quickly anyway. "RC, if I may ask", he says after he's done with the treatment and allows you to sit up. "Those wounds in your face are very clearly self-inflicted. Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"Zephyr", you wake up in a shuttle of your people's own design. You see other injured around you as well as some other parasites looking after the injured that are fixing themselves up. You are also working on fixing the light damage that the tranquilizers have done to your host. "Welcome back", you are greeted by the same doctor who implanted you into this host body. "The captain has determined that you are to be taken out of your host body. I am very sorry but you will have to return into a child's body for the time being. I have protested this decision but there was no changin the captain's mind."
Apr 1, 2019 4:10 pm
With Belka

These? Oh.....OH.Yeah, ah can see how it’d look bad. Nothin’ serious ah promise. Ah had tha hunch that if tha slugs thought we were feckin’ insane, we’d be able ta get a leg up.

She shrugs with her good arm.

It didn’t go great, but it bought tha others a little time.
Apr 1, 2019 4:33 pm
Moira

He eyes you suspiciously and still looks a bit worried but does not question you any further. "Well, if you need to talk about something, you know where to find me."
Apr 1, 2019 4:44 pm
Alex accepts the offer of coffee as well, though she takes it as a strong shot of espresso. She listens to Cass's explanation, expression unreadable as the current situation is described. She sips from her cup from time to time, watching as the commander paces about the room. It's at that point that she shows her first emotion, a faint smile, understanding and some small amount of sympathy in her pale eyes.

"My instructors back at the Academy used to say that I talked enough for any five people before I let another person get a word in edgewise," she says, opening up more of a smile. "It's oddly comforting to know that I've encountered a potential kindred spirit."

"To answer your questions, both stated and implied," she continues, draining the remainder of her cup in one quick swallow, "You do not sound crazy. Or at least, no crazier than anything else I've heard recently, and I'm sure you'll believe me when I say there's been more than enough crazy to go around." She rests her elbows on the table, rubbing at her temples. "There is always room for negotiation, and it sounds as though you've done an admirable job with what you've had available to you, under trying circumstances. It's impossible to know how trustworthy an unknown species will be, but their willingness to discuss an... exchange of captives... is a positive sign." That mention of captives seems to be hard for her to speak aloud.

She breathes in and out twice, slowly, and continues. "Your... science officer... said something to me as we were escaping captivity. Reminded me of our mission, as Spacefleet. To go in peace, to seek to understand other lifeforms. If I can help you accomplish that, and protect my... our people," she says quietly, pauses, loses her smile, and then finishes.

"Of course, he had already been infected by then, so who fucking knows."
Apr 1, 2019 5:32 pm
MArbo finishes packing what he needs into his medical satchel before returning to Cassano to depart for the meeting.

"Commander. Zlam. Marbo is en route to the transporter room. Is there anything Marbo should bring?"
Last edited April 1, 2019 5:36 pm
Apr 1, 2019 5:51 pm
Quote:
"Zephyr", you wake up in a shuttle of your people's own design. You see other injured around you as well as some other parasites looking after the injured that are fixing themselves up. You are also working on fixing the light damage that the tranquilizers have done to your host. "Welcome back", you are greeted by the same doctor who implanted you into this host body. "The captain has determined that you are to be taken out of your host body. I am very sorry but you will have to return into a child's body for the time being. I have protested this decision but there was no changin the captain's mind."
"What is going on here? Where am I?" The officer formerly known as Zephyr (who's current name is roughly pronounced Ktktk-dtkpTkrrrk) attempts to sit up and clear his host's head. Ridiculous bipedal humanoids and their inadequate vestibular systems.

"Back to a child's body? Unacceptable."

This can only mean one thing. His plan has failed. But even so, it makes no sense to have him removed from his host. Was he being punished? We were so close! Nearly all of the meatbags were on the ship!

"I have to see the captain."
Apr 1, 2019 5:58 pm
Zephyr

"You will see him. He's giving in to the meatbags' demands because he says we can't defeat them in a fight. It's not fair that you are being punished for his weakness."
He looks around for a second and leans in closer. When he's sure nobody can hear him, he whispers something into your ear.

bowlofspinach sent a note to kona
Apr 1, 2019 9:30 pm
Kendall flexes and extends her elbow over and over, trying to get used to the pain. She thanks the doctors for the repair, and as she walks out of the medbay, she heads to her post in security.

She prepares a quick updated dossier on these space slugs, including the information about rapid healing that she saw, and she devises some ideas for quicker immobilization of these creatures.

We need to find a better method of disrupting the host/symbiont connection without killing the host.

She thinks about this, digging into the ship’s databases to try and find any information on this front, from the other symbiotic life forms that they know about. She enlists the help of an analyst cadet to get the data as efficiently as possible.
OOC:
Lobbying for assistance with querying.

Rolls

Lasers (prepared, not expert, getting assistance) - (3d6)

(154) = 10

Apr 1, 2019 10:11 pm
With Belka

Moira nods appreciatively.

Believe it or not, Doctor, tha alcohol’s a collection, not a copin’ Mechanism. Ah’ll come touch base with yeh once this blows over, but Ah’m all right. Thank yeh. Am ah cleared ta go work on tha shields?
Apr 2, 2019 3:21 am
78RPMLife says:
Alex accepts the offer of coffee as well, though she takes it as a strong shot of espresso. She listens to Cass's explanation, expression unreadable as the current situation is described. She sips from her cup from time to time, watching as the commander paces about the room. It's at that point that she shows her first emotion, a faint smile, understanding and some small amount of sympathy in her pale eyes.

"My instructors back at the Academy used to say that I talked enough for any five people before I let another person get a word in edgewise," she says, opening up more of a smile. "It's oddly comforting to know that I've encountered a potential kindred spirit."

"To answer your questions, both stated and implied," she continues, draining the remainder of her cup in one quick swallow, "You do not sound crazy. Or at least, no crazier than anything else I've heard recently, and I'm sure you'll believe me when I say there's been more than enough crazy to go around." She rests her elbows on the table, rubbing at her temples. "There is always room for negotiation, and it sounds as though you've done an admirable job with what you've had available to you, under trying circumstances. It's impossible to know how trustworthy an unknown species will be, but their willingness to discuss an... exchange of captives... is a positive sign." That mention of captives seems to be hard for her to speak aloud.

She breathes in and out twice, slowly, and continues. "Your... science officer... said something to me as we were escaping captivity. Reminded me of our mission, as Spacefleet. To go in peace, to seek to understand other lifeforms. If I can help you accomplish that, and protect my... our people," she says quietly, pauses, loses her smile, and then finishes.

"Of course, he had already been infected by then, so who fucking knows."
Cass notes that Alex seems distressed and decides to maybe ease up a bit on the mania. "It probably hit pretty hard to have a fellow captive turn on your like that. I can't imagine..." She trails off, because actually, she can imagine. She's spent a lot of time with Zephyr - the real Zephyr - and she's been imagining being there when the slug in him revealed its - her - control over him.

She leans forward in the chair. "But for what it's worth, I think that the person who quoted the mission of peace and seeking out new lifeforms was the real Zephyr, my friend Zephyr. Because he's always talking about that, to the point of it being annoying."

A notification pings on her computer and Cass reaches over to swivel the screen to face her.
bowlofspinach says:
Cass, a message appears on your personal computer. It reads "There's a message for you from the captain of the Four"
Attached to it is the following note:

Commander, we are transporting your crewmember to the Four at this moment. We hereby formally invite you to our ship to observe the procedure. We guarantee you protection as our guest. You may bring a delegation of trusted officers with you.

Signed,
FF2FVFV2VV22F
Just thinking about going to that ship makes her stomach twist. She knows she still hasn't dealt with the emotional fallout from the attack in the cargo bay, and that alone would probably make this trip inadvisable, but declining would mean answering a gesture of goodwill with one of mistrust, and she didn't need to be a professional diplomat to know that would erode at least some of the fragile progress she'd made. She sighs and turns back to face Alex.

"I know we just met, but how do you feel about being a plus-one at Zephyr's 'coming out' procedure?"
Apr 2, 2019 4:02 am
Alex snorts aloud at Cass’s description of Zephyr’s peacemongering. "I haven’t known him long, but somehow that doesn’t surprise me."

She leans forward to read the message and, once done, raises her eyes to look at the commander. "Why, Commander... how could a girl refuse such an invitation?" she replies archly. "I’d be tempted to flutter my eyelashes if I wasn’t so damned tired."

Alex stands and extends a hand to Cass. "You’d have to tie me up with Vargalian stun cords to keep me away, Commander. A chance like this only comes around once."
Last edited April 2, 2019 4:03 am
Apr 2, 2019 4:36 am
78RPMLife says:
Alex snorts aloud at Cass’s description of Zephyr’s peacemongering. "I haven’t known him long, but somehow that doesn’t surprise me."

She leans forward to read the message and, once done, raises her eyes to look at the commander. "Why, Commander... how could a girl refuse such an invitation?" she replies archly. "I’d be tempted to flutter my eyelashes if I wasn’t so damned tired."

Alex stands and extends a hand to Cass. "You’d have to tie me up with Vargalian stun cords to keep me away, Commander. A chance like this only comes around once."
Cass grins tiredly, shaking her hand. "Maybe on the second date. I'll have
quarters assigned to you. Go freshen up and meet back here for a meeting with the rest of our entourage."
Apr 2, 2019 5:57 am
Once she's alone again in the ready room, Cass writes a response to Captain FF2FVFV2VV22F of the Four.

Thank you for the invitation to observe the procedure. I will attend with a few of my crew, as you've suggested.

I wish to personally express again my gratitude for your willingness to return my crew member, and for the small steps we have both taken toward establishing some common ground between our peoples. That said, I must stress that neither I nor my crew will feel comfortable attending the procedure unarmed. While my intention is to underscore a desire for peace, we know firsthand that your people are capable of killing us with remarkable ease, even unarmed. So I formally and respectfully request to be allowed sidearms aboard your ship, which will remain holstered except in the event of an act of aggression against us. I encourage you to think of this as symbolic of our mutual respect.

Signed,
Commander Shawna Cassano
Last edited April 2, 2019 6:07 am
Apr 2, 2019 6:12 am
Cass

You quickly receive a reply:
You are welcome to carry weapons but if any member of your delegations draws their weapon unprovoked, we will consider that a hostile action and break off peaceful negotiations immediately.
We are lowering our shields now so you can beam over at your convenience. If you decide to use this opportunity to destroy us, know that this system is being observed and that the rest of my people are going to find out about it.

Signed,
FF2FVFV2VV22F
OOC:
Cass, can you give me a list of everyone you're taking on your team? Also, your rank is Commander, not Lt. Commander
Kendall
OOC:
You got a Laser Feeling, I'm just going to answer your question for it: You already have the tranquilizer darts which seem very effective. You won't be able to separate host and parasite without surgery or killing at least one of them. Maybe it would be possible to invent a device that could temporarily stun the parasite while leaving the host conscious. That would give you some short window to talk to the host, assuming that they have not been linked for long enough for the parasite to sever most connections of the host's brain to their body, in which case this would probably kill the host
Moira

Belka says: "You can return to work but keep someone around, just in case. Your injuries were severe and I don't want you to faint in some maintenance tunnel where nobody will find you for the next hour."
Apr 2, 2019 6:37 am
OOC:
Yes, I fixed the rank mistake. I guess Cass is getting punchy.
In the transporter room, Cass addresses the people she's assembled to travel to the Four to observe Zephyr's procedure: Alex, Marbo, Kendall, and Yang. "I've told you all this privately, but let me say it again for emphasis: the purpose of this trip is peaceful. We are there to observe the procedure to separate the symbiote from Lt. Comm. Borealis and bring him home. This event represents a major milestone on the road to establishing a diplomatic relationship. I know that some of you think that's a foolish endeavor, but the fact is that our ship is ailing and we can't be sure of surviving a firefight with them at the moment, so if you can't buy into the peace process philosophically, do so out of pragmatism.

"We are all wearing sidearms by agreement with the captain of the Four. They are to remain holstered for the entire time we are aboard their ship, except in the event of an act of aggression against us. I am hopeful that we can get through this without such an act, but keep in mind that the act of removing a symbiote from a viable host is unlikely to be a popular move among the crew of the Four. If something does happen, please be judicious in your response. I don't want a firefight as a result of a dirty look or aggressive posturing. I trust you all to know a serious breach of safety when you see one."


She looks each one of them in the eyes, nods, and takes her place on the pad. "Energize."
Apr 2, 2019 9:52 am
Yang's arm is fully healed by now. He's wearing a phaser holster at his side and he's listening to your speech with a serious expression. At one point when he has an opportunity, probably before your speech, he comes up to you, Cass, and says: "Thank you for requesting me for this mission, Commander, I won't disappoint you!"
He seems genuinely happy to be chosen but you also don't get the impression that he's underestimating the risk that comes with it
Apr 2, 2019 3:32 pm
Lorq is reviewing all medical files on the symbiote and hosts. Any information, even something trivial or overlooked, could prove important.

There has to be something that will help the hosts break free. Lorq mutters while working.
Apr 2, 2019 3:34 pm
OOC:
Mach, if you tell me more precisely what kind of thing you're looking for and give me a roll, you might find something
Apr 2, 2019 3:44 pm
I am looking to if there is any way we can suppress the parasite enough to bring forth the mind of the host. On the same track...a way to kill the parasite and save the host.

Rolls

Science. Prepared and expert. - (3D6)

(366) = 15

Apr 2, 2019 3:50 pm
Lorq, you look through all documentation that you have access to and you can tell that these parasites definitely react differently to certain stimuli than the hosts. You are pretty sure it should be possible to find a way to knock out the parasite without hurting the host. If the host's brain has not been fully disconnected from the body, that should allow you to communicate with the host, not the parasite. If you pool your findings with the ones Kendall got from her research, you might be able to create a prototype but without access to a living parasite, you can't really finetune the device.
Apr 2, 2019 3:53 pm
Alex arrives in the transporter room having cleaned up, looking and feeling a bit more human. She stands, hands clasped behind her back, listening intently to Cass's speech.

"Commander, if I may?" Alex asks, but then doesn't wait for confirmation. "As with any first contact scenario, it's absolutely critical that we all remember that what may seem disturbing, disconcerting, or hostile may not be so. While we have seen first-hand the physical prowess of this race, we have to try our hardest to avoid physical confrontation. It is not likely to be a fight we can win, and even if we could, the consequences could well be disastrous."

With that, she awaits transport.
Apr 2, 2019 4:35 pm
Away team

Once everyone is ready and Cass gives the order, you are transported to the coordinates on the Four that the captain has given you. You materialize in what looks like a conference room. There's a large table with a number of chairs around it.
Standing by the table is the captain. He is wearing a dress uniform in the blue of a medical officer but it looks slightly bulky as if he's wearing something else underneath.
There are two guards in the same outfit, although both of them in gold. They're carrying phasers in holsters but don't look immediately aggressive.
The captain walks up to Cass and reaches out his hand to shake yours. "Welcome to my ship, Commander Cassano." He then turns towards the rest of the away team and greets them quickly. He gives his own name again, a series of unintelligible clicks. Then he turns back to Cass. "Please, come with me. Our medical center is just down the hallway. My doctors are getting ready for the operation as we speak."
Apr 2, 2019 4:42 pm
Cass shakes his hand and nods to assent to following the captain to the medical center. "I apologize for our translator not being able to process your proper nouns. If you think I could reproduce it, I would like it if you could teach me how to say your name, captain. If we are to forge a diplomatic relationship, the first step is probably being able to address each other by name."

As they walk, Cass tries to take in as many details of the ship as possible.
Last edited April 2, 2019 4:42 pm
Apr 2, 2019 4:49 pm
The corridors are dark. They're made of material similar to the outside so they shimmer dark green in the very low lighting. Occasionally doors break off from the hallway on either side but they are spaced farther apart than they would be on a Consortium ship. You can see in the hallway, but due to the low light, only barely.
"Unless your species is able to produce clicking sounds of different frequencies simultaneously, I don't think you will be able to correctly pronounce my full name. I can teach you an approximation that should be possible to recreate for your vocal system, if you want."
Apr 2, 2019 5:05 pm
Cass is starting to feel on edge. Something about the too-low lighting and the alien materials of the ship is creating an outsized sense of immediate threat. She pushes it down and maintains an even, conversational tone, even managing a smile. "I'd appreciate being able to even approximate the pronunciation, thank you."
Apr 2, 2019 5:18 pm
OOC:
Im assuming marbo has been following along, in awe and typing furiously on his datapad.
"commander. Zlam. This is fascinating!"
Last edited April 2, 2019 5:23 pm
Apr 2, 2019 5:21 pm
OOC:
Is kendall with the away team? If not I will try and find them on the ship
Apr 2, 2019 5:22 pm
OOC:
Yes, Kendall's on the away team.
Apr 2, 2019 5:49 pm
Alex walks along with the rest of the away team, remaining silent but vigilant. Most of her attention is focused on the captain, studying the cadences of his speech, the body language he uses when he says certain words or phrases, anything she can glean to be able to assign intent or thought patterns to speech.

Rolls

Feelings, expert - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (1) = 1

1d6 : (4) = 4

Apr 2, 2019 6:21 pm
Alex, you get the impression that he is definitely tense but he doesn't seem dishonest. He is hard to read, though, because his mannerism is not quite human.

After a short walk, you reach another door and the captain stops in front of it. It slides open soundlessly and, following the captain, you enter the room behind it. It is large and rectangular, much more spacious than the Potential's sickbay but also noticeably less sophisticated. There are medical tools to perform surgery and some scanners but a lot of medical technology that is present on the Potential is missing here.
A man and a woman in civilian clothing are quickly moving around the room, working on some terminals and gathering tools on a table near the center of the room. Next to the table is a raised operating table out of the same green metal as most of the ship.

Almost at the same time as you, two more people arrive. One of them is Zephyr - or at least his body. The other is a tall, muscular man with white hair and pale skin wearing a regular red spacefleet uniform.

The captain turns to "Zephyr" and says: "Child, I am sorry that we have to do this to you. I swear by my life that you will be joined with a proper host again as soon as we can arrange. For now, this is the only way to ensure our survival."

You all notice that the pale man next to "Zephyr" frowns at these words. He does not seem to agree with the captain but does not say anything.
Apr 2, 2019 7:14 pm
Seeing Zephyr - or his body, at least - is more of a gut-punch than Cass expected, driving home the fate she'd consigned him to when she decided to send an away team into that first ambush. She'd actually ordered them to submit to capture, in fact, a fact she's conveniently forgotten until now. Yeah, that has worked out great.

But she tries to maintain a composed, neutral expression on her face, her hands clasped loosely behind her, feet comfortably apart in a relaxed stance. As the captain addresses "Zephyr", she watches closely the responses from the other two beings.
Apr 2, 2019 7:42 pm
The pale man next to Zephyr gains Alex’s initial attention, a curious look from behind narrowed eyes. The increase in tension in the room is palpable to her, at least. She studies the Zephyr-body for any indication of the human host mind inside. She says nothing at this time, merely watches.
OOC:
Going to do another Feelings roll, just in case. Ignore as you see fit.

Rolls

Feelings, expert - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (5) = 5

1d6 : (1) = 1

Apr 2, 2019 9:36 pm
Kendall feels for the creature. It sucks to have your hopes up - a disappointment that she has felt before. She will creep towards Cass and whisper in her ear:
HeroAmongMen sent a note to Moonbeam
Apr 2, 2019 9:42 pm
'Zephyr' locks eyes with the symbiote captain, "Are you sure there are no other options?" They look at each other for a long moment, "Returning to a child's body is suffocating. The feeling of restlessness is unbearable, not to mention the hallucinations!" 'Zephyr' looks at the pale man next to him as if he is searching his face for answers as well, but seems to find nothing.

Alex, upon studying Zephyr you sense a discomposure and anxiety that you had never seen before, in either of Zephyr's forms. It's impossible to say whether this is coming from Zephyr or a projection of the symbiote's feelings however.

He then turns to you Alex and implores, "Please, I'm sorry for what I've done, I was just trying to survive. I'm begging you, don't let them send me back!"
Apr 2, 2019 9:54 pm
Chain of command. Chain of command. Chain of command.

You can almost hear Alex's train of thought rumbling through her head, given the force with which she presses her lips together to keep from responding reflexively. She looks to Cass, letting the commanding officer take the lead.
Apr 2, 2019 10:27 pm
And just like that, everyone is looking at Cass. She struggles not to gape like a fish (no offense, Marbo), but she can feel that her eyes, at least, are wide with the surprise of receiving this (punted) plea for clemency. Of all the things she might have expected right now, this hadn't even made the list.

"I deeply regret putting you through this, I really do," she says, something that a few hours ago she would have considered unthinkable. "Our intention is not to be cruel. We simply need the person you've taken as host returned to us. He didn't give consent to be in this condition, and we believe that people have a right to bodily autonomy. That is the main source of conflict between our peoples right now. Your captain and I are attempting to build a foundation of trust and cooperation that I truly believe could lead to your kind and mine working together to obtain willing hosts for all of you. But that journey requires a first step, and I'm afraid this is it. I..." She looks down at the floor, scowling at the general awfulness of the situation, then looks back at "Zephyr." "I'm sorry. Very sorry."
Apr 2, 2019 10:46 pm
Kendall steps forward: "Permission to speak, commander?"

Kendall waits patiently to share her development, hoping to stifle this situation a bit.

HeroAmongMen sent a note to bowlofspinach
Apr 2, 2019 10:47 pm
Cass looks at Kendall in surprise. "Granted," she says, hoping she's not making a mistake.
Apr 2, 2019 11:45 pm
"I may be interested to volunteer to become the host. I would like to understand exactly what that would entail, as well as the benefits. I have seen the strain that hosting presents, but perhaps we can find a solution that would reduce that strain.

"I am open to the prospect, assuming it would allow me to retain some personality and shared control."
Apr 3, 2019 12:02 am
"Commander, if I may add something?" asks Alex, though she continues to watch the Zephyr-body while she speaks.
Apr 3, 2019 12:08 am
Cass is so busy trying not to gape - again - that she simply nods to Alex to grant permission.
Apr 3, 2019 12:42 am
"The idea of an exchange may well be a good one, under certain circumstances," Alex says, looking now from the commander to the alien captain. "With certain assurances."

"First, is the host mind still active and able to communicate with the symbiont? Second, obviously the symbiont can be removed from the host body, but is there danger to the symbiont when it is transferred multiple times within a short duration? Finally, can the host communicate on its own, free with the outside world while the symbiont is present?"
Apr 3, 2019 1:07 am
Cass nods at Alex's points. "Lt. Commander Lloyd is right. There are safety factors that must be explored that affect both host and symbiote. For example, here are two others. One: We know that during the process of taking over a host body, the brain stem is severed. Is that a requirement for the process, or have you been doing it as the most expedient way to ensure complete ownership of the host body?

"Two: We know that your occupation of humanoid bodies results in significant damage to them, resulting in them being rapidly 'used up' and eventually requiring the symbiote to take a new host body. Is this an unavoidable feature of host occupation, or is it a byproduct of some other factor - say, the severing of the brain stem and rending the body nonviable on its own?"


She holds out her hands, palms up. "There is so much we don't know about you, but we are eager to learn. As my crew member's expression of interest should indicate, there are bound to be humanoids who would be willing to volunteer for the right incentive. We've noticed that you have the ability to rapidly heal host bodies and make physical modifications. There are humanoids suffering from diseases or physical handicaps who might jump at the chance to share their bodies to gain such benefits."

She sighs. "But all of this is discussion for later. We are here to regain a crew member whose body was taken against his will. Unless he tells me, himself, that he's willing to remain the host for this symbiote, I must request that he be restored immediately."
Apr 3, 2019 6:17 am
The captain, who had previously been very focused on Cass, turns to Kendall at her suggestion and observes her closely.
"There are risks associated with every operation but they exponentially increase if multiple transplantations are completed in rapid succession. We need to feed on the hosts which burns them out quickly, but every contact you have made with our race has been with warriors. We run our bodies at the highest level of efficiency which requires much more energy than for example our scholars use. With artificial enhancements, a host could last years before burning out."
He pauses before continuing. "The host's mind is still active until we eventually take over completely. It would be possible to not separate it and stay in contact and share control of the body but it would be a very difficult process for both parties."
He walks over to "Zephyr" and puts his hand on his shoulder. "I assume your host's brain has not been disconnected yet, right? Would you be willing to let us speak to him?"
Apr 3, 2019 1:25 pm
'Zephyr', while beginning to look hopeful during this discussion, suddenly has a look of uncertainty again.

"It has not been separated, no. If you desire to speak to him, I am obliged to comply. Although I'm not sure I would expect a positive response from him, our internal struggle has been a difficult one."
Apr 3, 2019 1:37 pm
"Regardless", the captain replies. "I am certain, these people would like to speak to their comrade before the operation. If you would, please. Just for a moment"
Apr 3, 2019 2:53 pm
Marbo stands behind the two female officers, typing furiously and transcripting the whole interaction to a live storage server aboard the Potential, which is also set to beam all data to starfleet in case of an emergency.
OOC:
Can i secretly scan these life forms to see how far advanced their slugliness is?
Last edited April 3, 2019 2:54 pm
Apr 3, 2019 3:11 pm
OOC:
You can do it but I don't think secretly
Apr 3, 2019 3:30 pm
Cass steps closer to "Zephyr." "Please let me speak with my friend." It's not a demand, just a heartfelt request.
Apr 3, 2019 4:07 pm
"Very well."

Zephyr lies down on the gurney in the room with his arms at his sides. A few moments after getting settled, his eyes roll back in his head violently. His body then goes into a very brief period of minor convulsions, and then he's still. A second passes. Then another. Suddenly Zephyr sucks in a gasp of breath and sits bolt upright on the gurney. His pale complexion combined with the shimmering green lighting gives him an almost lurid appearance.

Without hesitation he looks directly at Commander Cassano, "Get it out of me." Zephyr has a very serious expression on his face. Not one of fear, more like disgust or contempt.
Apr 3, 2019 4:15 pm
Taken aback by the violence of both the transition to the real Zephyr and the emotion he displays in communicating his desire, Cass gasps a little. This is definitely Zephyr, and he is expressing no equivocation whatsoever about his wishes. She maintains eye contact, happy to finally see him in there. "Okay, Zeph. You got it. Hang in just a little bit longer. We're taking you home."

Turning to the captain, Cass says, "I request that you proceed with the operation to remove the symbiote."
Apr 3, 2019 4:42 pm
Zephyr then turns to Kendall.

"Whoever you are, if you are considering voluntarily hosting a symbiotic life form, I suggest you are allowed complete control over which life form, with no ambiguity. You will not only be sharing a body, but also be sharing thoughts if my experience is any indication."

Zephyr thinks for a moment, seeming to gather himself a bit.

"It is worth noting, however, that I was being held against my will," he says in the rational tone that the Commander has typically known from him. "There is every possibility that your experience would be entirely different than my own. The life form within myself is a vile and disgusting creature that has no concept morality or virtu....AACK!"

Zephyr reaches up and puts both palms to his temples, like he is having sudden migraine.
Apr 3, 2019 4:48 pm
Cass starts to reach toward him before thinking better of it. She looks at the captain, shouting in her panic. "What's happening to him?"
Last edited April 3, 2019 4:48 pm
Apr 3, 2019 4:48 pm
Alex starts to step forward as Zephyr cries out, but quickly remembers herself and stays put so as to avoid appearing hostile. She looks to Marbo, eyebrows raised, and she inclines her head briefly toward Zephyr, in an unspoken question: do you have any idea what's happening here?
Apr 3, 2019 5:11 pm
Marbo stands there, four arms at his sides, mouth agape in shock at this lovecraftian ridesharing experience from hell.


"Commander...Zlam.... Permission to vomit?" he asks, terrified at what is happening to zephyr and reliving his own experiences with the slugs.
Apr 3, 2019 5:12 pm
As you watch on in horror he convulses, more violently than before, and falls to the the ground. Surgical implements are knocked off of shelves nearby and clang to the ground around him. Suddenly it stops, and everything is silent.

As he lay on the ground on his right shoulder, you wonder for a moment if he's still alive. Then suddenly, his left hand reaches under his right hip, he pulls out a small phaser, and fires it aims it directly at Captain FF2FVFV2VV22F of the Four!

"Don't move," Zephyr says as he stands up to move behind the symbiote captain. "I will not let you remove me from my host. I have spent far too long within the children...we all have. Who are you to decide our fates? We will stand for it no longer."

Keeping his eyes on the symbiote captain, he says to no one in particular, "Will we my friends?"
OOC:
I'm calling it prepared because of the surprise element. If you disagree, ignore.

Edit: Laser Feelings! Talk about ruining the moment. Well, lets see. Does Captain FF2FVFV2VV22F appear to be armed?
Edit 2: ok, edited action and stuff is in green text
Last edited April 3, 2019 6:00 pm

Rolls

Lasers, prepared - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (4) = 4

1d6 : (5) = 5

Feelings, prepared (if you need it) - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (6) = 6

1d6 : (4) = 4

Apr 3, 2019 5:18 pm
Laser Feeling: The captain himself is not armed but the two guards he has with him are. The doctors aren't armed either but might be able to intervene in a fight using surgical scalpels or something similar if they choose to
OOC:
You can choose to change your action if you want
Apr 3, 2019 5:45 pm
The captain slowly raises his hands. "You’re making a mistake. Even if you kill me, you will not get out of this alive."
The two guards he had with him reach for their phasers but before they can get them out, one of them gets hit by a phaser beam from the tall pale man that had led Zephyr into the room. He gets vaporized and disappears into nothing immediately. The other guard throws himself on the floor, taking cover behind a medical bed. The captain does not move, too intimidated by the phaser pointed directly at him. He looks over at Cass, making eye contact for a second, silently asking for assistance.
The pale man ducks behind a computer terminal that mostly obscures his body. He turns around and peers out of his cover, searching for his next target.
Apr 3, 2019 5:52 pm
Kendall doesn't take more than a moment to see the request, and she jumps at not-Zephyr, taking her phaser in one hand, a lab tray in the other, throws the lab tray at its head while crouch-moving behind cover, firing several blasts of her phaser at max stun.

Rolls

Lasers (Not Prepared, Expert) - (2d6)

(53) = 8

Apr 3, 2019 5:54 pm
OOC:
Okay, how many slug people are pointing guns right now, and are any of them pointed at us?
Apr 3, 2019 5:55 pm
Kendall, you hit Zephyr with the medical tray and he momentarily loses balance, for long enough at least that the captain ducks behind cover as well. You hit Zephyr with one stun blast but he resists it without going down. He manages to avoid the other shots
Apr 3, 2019 5:55 pm
Marbo screams, a combination of dolphin chirps and a small child screaming. He stumbles backwards, tripping over the medical robes and stumbling backwards, laying a heavy hand on his tranq-rifles trigger and sending darts wildly towards the slugfolk.
OOC:
Lasers to attempt to aim the dart rifle as i empty my magazine towards the slugs.
I got laser feelings.


Id like to know if there is a way for marbo, and friends, to escape this with zephyr and save him from the sluginess.
Last edited April 3, 2019 5:56 pm

Rolls

Ratatat tat, pew pew. - (1d6)

(5) = 5

Apr 3, 2019 5:56 pm
OOC:
It's Zephyr and the pale man against the captain and his remaining guard. So far, nobody is attacking you but Kendall just involved you in the fight
Apr 3, 2019 5:56 pm
OOC:
Okay, I guess it doesn't matter anymore, lol.
Apr 3, 2019 5:58 pm
OOC:
Marbo's shots go wild, not hitting anyone as he fires from his awkward falling position
Apr 3, 2019 6:01 pm
OOC:
I'll let Zephyr respond again before Kendall makes her next move.
Apr 3, 2019 6:02 pm
Cass ducks to take advantage of whatever cover might be around and aims her modified phaser rifle at the tall man, firing.

Rolls

This should be amusing, prepared - (2d6)

(16) = 7

Apr 3, 2019 6:05 pm
Cass, you shot hits the man's shoulder as he leans out of cover but gets deflected without penetrating his skin. He must be wearing some sort of thin body armor under the uniform
Apr 3, 2019 6:07 pm
OOC:
What cover is there in the room?
Apr 3, 2019 6:08 pm
Alex quickly takes note of where others -- allies and slug-folk alike -- are positioned, then quickly moves into cover. Her trajectory takes her in the general direction of the pale man's hiding spot, as she tries to move into closer range to improve her angle and distance for a potential tranquilizer shot.

Rolls

Lasers - (1d6)

(3) = 3

Apr 3, 2019 6:08 pm
OOC:
There's some beds and terminals. Nothing that would grant you complete cover but enough to make it harder to get hit
Apr 3, 2019 6:10 pm
Cass moves behind a bed, shouting, "Go for head shots! They're wearing armor." She aims at Zephyr, if she can see his head, and fires again.

Rolls

Once more, with feeling, prepared - (2d6)

(31) = 4

Apr 3, 2019 6:12 pm
Alex, you make your way over to the pale man but before you can jump out to attack him, he jumps out of his cover and grabs you by the neck. He wrestles you around to use you as a human shield. He aims his gun at Cass. "Drop your weapons meat bags!"
Alex, you feel a this layer of something that might possibly be metal under his uniform.
Apr 3, 2019 6:13 pm
OOC:
I just fired at Zephyr. Should I delete?
Apr 3, 2019 6:18 pm
Cass, you aim for Zephyr's head but right as you press the trigger, the pale man's shout distracts you and you miss your target.
You look over to the pale man and see the situation Alex has gotten herself into
Apr 3, 2019 6:22 pm
Cass swings her weapon around and fires at the control panel that controls the door to the room.

Rolls

Yeah, whatever, prepared and such - (2d6)

(23) = 5

Apr 3, 2019 6:27 pm
Alex rolls her eyes toward the ceiling. One of these days, she's going to get that combat training she keeps putting off.

She doesn't struggle much, merely to try and keep her balance as the pale man jerks her around. With a smirk, she says, "Is that hard and metallic in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?" To the others, she says, before she can be shut up, "He's wearing something metal, all right."
Apr 3, 2019 6:35 pm
Marbo scurries behind some cover, mumbling something in nemurlian about how much he hates slugs and how he wishes he didnt have to do what he is about to do.

He reaches under his collar and pulls out the phaser pistol, ensuring it is set to kill, and pops up from behind the gurney he is at, two arms wielding the rifle, one hand holding the phaser, and the remaining lower arm holding his datapad infront of his vital organs.


"Phasers should still penetrate the armor!" he yells

He aims the rifle towards zephyr/ the host, and fires a tranquilizer round, whilst simultaneously firing the killshot phaser at the tall pale guy we determined was a real bad dude.

Rolls

Tranq on zephyr (adding prepared because i have the extra arm to aim it properly?) - (2d6)

(13) = 4

Phaser shot on Whitey Slugman (adding prepared because he hates the slugs?) - (2d6)

(45) = 9

Apr 3, 2019 6:58 pm
The pale man grunts at Alex joke, seemingly not impressed.
Marbo, you hit Zephyr square in the chest but the needle gets deflected by his armor.
Your phaser shot at the pale man is tricky because he's holding Alex. You shoot at him and would hit him in the arm he's holding her with but he dodges out of the way, loosening his grip on Alex as he's moving. Alex you can try to roll Feelings to get free
Apr 3, 2019 7:14 pm
Seeing that at least Marbo has more than one weapon, the captain leans out of his cover and yells: "Someone give me a weapon! I can help"
Apr 3, 2019 7:20 pm
"Marbo! Toss a phaser to the captain!" Cass wonders when her fish-boy doctor started packing enough heat to fuel a barbecue.
Last edited April 3, 2019 7:35 pm
Apr 3, 2019 8:20 pm
Marbo will look to the captain, and toss the phaser to the captain.

"Think marbo... Think. Must be some way to penetrate the slugs armor...."

He says aloud to himself, staring down at the rifle.

His peripheral vision catches his medical satchel, still hanging off of him, and he has the idea he needed.


"Eureka!.. Commander! Zlam! Cover me"


Marbo digs into his satchel, pulling out a laser scalpel with a thick guage projection blade.
He quickly unscrews it, and lays the parts in his lap. He pulls the bolt on the rifle and ejects one of the darts and dismantles it as well, combining the micro rocket projector from the dark with the battery and blade projector of the scalpel, and threading it all together very carefully with a bit of medical tape.

He slides the new war crime up over the gurney, taking aim at the pale man again, and yells out.

" Slugman! Zlam. You will release your hostage, or you will die. Loaded into my weapon is a microrocket projection system mounted to a 28guage nonlinear projection scalpel. In laymans terms, I have made a laser knife gun. It is more than capable of penetrating your armor, and yourself, and searing a hole through youre entire host. You may think that is no threat due to the regenerative nature of your slime," Marbo stands fully upright, undoing the latches on his collar and letting it drop to the floor with a heavy metallic slam, revealing his scars, and other injuries from the previous slug who tried to mouth-love his pretty face, "But marbo is a fishy boy, and he knows a thing or two about how to deal with a worm."

Rolls

Lasers - Build this epic slugslayer bullet (expert cuz he made the guns) - (2d6)

(45) = 9

Apr 3, 2019 9:11 pm
As her captor loosens his grip somewhat, Alex grabs his hand and bites down on it as hard as she can, while simultaneously driving her heel down on his foot. That done, she attempts to slide out from his grip and dive for cover. Especially now that shooting at the bad guys also apparently means shooting at her.

"Is this how you treat all your new and temporary crew members?" she calls out.
OOC:
Going to make a judgement call and say this is expert feelings. Any good spacefaring diplomat probably needs to know how to defend herself in close quarters. Ignore at will, spinach. :)

Rolls

Feelings, expert - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (4) = 4

1d6 : (6) = 6

Apr 3, 2019 9:22 pm
Cass winces as she watches Alex bite into the slug-man's hand - not in sympathy for him, but because of her last close encounter with a slug-man's bodily fluids. The other guy had acid saliva. What might this one have - nitroglycerin blood?
Apr 3, 2019 9:24 pm
OOC:
Well, it'd be good for my heart?
Apr 3, 2019 9:44 pm
Not-Zephyr, still holding his phaser to the [s]captain's neck[s] back of the captain's head, looks at the remaining guard and directs a series of unintelligible clicking noises at him. The guard looks at him uncertainly.
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Turning to the rest of you Not-Zephyr says, "Everyone drop your weapons or the captain gets it! I will not be placed back in captivity, I'd rather die first!"

Edit: We decided in discord that i didnt have the captain in my grasp, but I am for certain behind him with a phaser to his head.
Last edited April 3, 2019 10:23 pm

Rolls

Secret Roll

Apr 3, 2019 9:52 pm
Marbo swivels to face zephyr, Laser Knife Gun pointed straight to his head.

"As a medical doctor, and specialist in xenobiology, and also having first hand experience with your species, Marbo can say this from a scientifically factual standpoint..." Marbo takes a deep breath, choking up on the rifle to make sure the shot goes true, "You do not have the balls."
Last edited April 3, 2019 9:53 pm
Apr 3, 2019 9:54 pm
Kendall grabs an item next to her and tosses it to the far side of Cass, on the opposite end of the room, and then she tumbles in the opposite direction, firing at both Zephyr's face and the pale man's face, and rolls behind another piece of cover.

Rolls

Lasers (Prepared, Expert) - (3d6)

(511) = 7

Apr 3, 2019 10:15 pm
OOC:
FYI, we already had a few moves still unadjudicated due to Spinach waiting for kona to post for Zephyr. Maybe we should hold off on additional action until Spinach is back online to sort through what everyone is trying to do and in what order? I personally have no idea what's what at this point.
Apr 4, 2019 6:38 am
Alex, you bite into the pale man's hand hard enough to release a burst of blood. The man doesn't appear to feel any pain but instinctively, his hand twitches away from you and you use this moment to get away from him and dive into cover. The pale man's hand fixes itself up immediately after so the only proof of your bite is the blood in your face and mouth and on his sleeve.
He aims his phaser at you and fires while clicking aggressively. Alex, give me a Feelings roll to not die. Someone else can feasibly help if they tell me how.

Marbo, he seems to have turned out your long-winded threat because he doesn't react to it really.
OOC:
There's been some confusion about who is where and so on. I'm going to retcon away everything after kona's last post. Kona, check in on the discord so we can discuss what's happening, when you're online again
Apr 4, 2019 6:39 am
OOC:
Cass could help by shooting at the guy?
Seeing the slug-man aiming at Alex in a murderous rage, Cass - still crouching behind a bed - fires her phaser rifle at his head, hoping to throw off his aim.
Last edited April 4, 2019 6:48 am

Rolls

Bang bang, prepared - (2d6)

(56) = 11

Apr 4, 2019 6:46 am
OOC:
Give me a roll for it and if you get at least one success, Alex gets an extra die
Apr 4, 2019 1:55 pm
Not-Zephyr, seemingly ignoring all of the chaos around him, charges straight at the symbiote captain with a crazed look in his eye and attempts to wrestle the phaser out of his grasp.

"You will not...be responsible...for the oppression...of our species!" He says with strain as they grapple with one another, "We do not share our hosts...it is not natural!"

Rolls

Feelings - (1d6)

(2) = 2

Apr 4, 2019 2:02 pm
HeroAmongMen says:
Kendall grabs an item next to her and tosses it to the far side of Cass, on the opposite end of the room, and then she tumbles in the opposite direction, firing at both Zephyr's face and the pale man's face, and rolls behind another piece of cover.
OOC:
Can I keep this action and the rolls associated with it, just moving it all up here instead of when it originally posted?
Apr 4, 2019 2:13 pm
The captain drops his weapon as you charge him but he grapples you before you can take it away from him. Grappling, you both roll out of the cover. You must have underestimated the captain's strength because very quickly he ends up on top, holding you down. "What is not natural is your defiance of my orders. I have been put in charge of you by the queen herself!"
He smashes down his head, breaking your host body's nose and getting your blood into your eyes, blinding you for the moment.

Lt. Yang fires his tranquilizer rifle at the pale man right after Cass' shot hits the wall behind him. He hits the man's shoulder but again, the shot is stopped by the armor he's wearing. Still, it distracts the man from shooting for just a fraction of a second, giving Alex a better opportunity to avoid his attack.

The captain's guard is trying to align a shot at Zephyr but he's wrestling with the captain, making it difficult to hit him without hitting the captain. After a second, he gives up and starts lining up a shot at the pale man instead.

Cass, suddenly you hear Darcy's voice over your comm badge: "Potential to Commander Cassano. Apologies for the interruption."

bowlofspinach sent a note to lavtodd
Apr 4, 2019 2:14 pm
OOC:
Hero, you can keep the rolls if you want (copypaste them into your new post). See if you would change anything because of the changed situation but otherwise you can reuse the old post
Apr 4, 2019 2:25 pm
Maybe her bite healed up immediately, but damn that felt good. As phaser fire starts going off from all directions, Alex dives for the nearest console to gain some meager amount of cover.

With the pale man distracted by the shot, Alex pivots and dives for his weapon, hoping to wrest it from his hands.
Last edited April 4, 2019 2:33 pm

Rolls

Feelings, don't fail me now (+help) - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (2) = 2

1d6 : (2) = 2

Feelings, don't fail me now (+help) - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (3) = 3

1d6 : (4) = 4

Apr 4, 2019 2:38 pm
Alex, remembering her combat training, notices the moment of distraction and utilizes it. She jumps up at the pale man and reaches for his weapon. Before he can react, she is already pulling it out of his hand. A shot gets fired off during the struggle and hits a terminal on the far side of the medical bay, which immediately explodes in a fountain of sparks. It sets the bed closest to it on fire.
Your struggle ends with Alex taking the pale man's weapon and moving a few steps away from him.
Apr 4, 2019 2:54 pm
Staying in cover for the moment, Cass responds to Darcy in a conversational tone. "Gee, Darcy, can't I help put down an alien mutiny without you hounding me? What's up?"
Last edited April 4, 2019 2:55 pm
Apr 4, 2019 2:59 pm
Clearly taken aback by the content of what you're saying and the tone you're saying it in, Darcy, unsure how serious you are, replies: "There's a par... an engineer from the Four asking permission to come on board. Commander, do you require help?"
Apr 4, 2019 3:00 pm
Kendall, seeing the situation become dire, grabs an item next to her and tosses it to the far side of Cass, on the opposite end of the room, and then she tumbles in the opposite direction, firing at both Zephyr's face and the pale man's face, and rolls behind the bed on fire.
OOC:
Rolls:

Lasers (Prepared, Expert) - (3d6)
( 5, 1, 1 ) = 7
Last edited April 4, 2019 3:02 pm
Apr 4, 2019 3:06 pm
"Under no circumstances do you let anyone come aboard without my authorization. Are this ship's shields up?"
Apr 4, 2019 3:18 pm
Kendall, as Zephyr is currently engaged in a grapple on the floor with teh captain, it's hard to hit him. You give off a shot in that direction but just barely miss him. However, your phaser's stun beam hits the pale man straight in the face right after Alex took his phaser. He stumbles for a second and then falls to the ground where he lies motionless.

"The Four's shields are up, commander. What is your situation? Should we open fire?"
Apr 4, 2019 3:20 pm
"Negative. Stand by. " Cass moves to get a better angle to shoot at not-Zephyr's head.
Last edited April 4, 2019 3:29 pm

Rolls

Screw that guy, prepared, with help cuz he's grappled - (3d6)

(241) = 7

Apr 4, 2019 5:55 pm
Out of the corner of his eye, NotZephyr notices his comrade slump to the floor. A slight look of concern passes over his face. Then without turning his head, but looking at the rest of the room sideways, he releases his grip on the captain with his right hand and puts his phaser up to his own temple.

"You won't take me alive. Release me or we both die."
Apr 4, 2019 6:38 pm
As Zephyr raises the gun against his own head, the captain suddenly changes up his grip and grabs Zephyr's wrist. He doesn't move it away or blocks him from pulling the trigger, simply holds it in place so Zephyr can't suddenly change his aim.
"You're an embarassment to the queen and our entire race. Do the universe a favor and finish yourself off!", he growls at Zephyr, simultaneously in clicking and in the language of the Consortium.

Rolls

Secret Roll

Secret Roll

Secret Roll

Secret Roll

Secret Roll

Apr 4, 2019 6:41 pm
Potential

Darcy? Ah’m not a fan a this without knowin’ how negotiations are goin’. Any word?
Apr 4, 2019 6:44 pm
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Apr 4, 2019 6:47 pm
Moira

"I just had communications with Cassano. It sounds like something went wrong over there. We are not to take on any guests at this point."
Apr 4, 2019 7:06 pm
Cass doesn't lower the weapon but holds her fire. "So what's the game plan, as you see it?" she says, aware that Darcy is still standing by on the open comm. "I mean, I get that you're making a last stand because you don't want to be removed from my friend's body, but your only fellow conspirator is out of commission and I've jammed the door, so no one else can get into this room to help you. The shields are up, so it's not like I can beam anyone in or out. We're all just stuck at the moment, and you're pointing a phaser at your own head. So I ask you again, what do you see as the game plan?"
Apr 4, 2019 7:21 pm
Alex quickly trains her stolen phaser on the pale man. "Stay still or you’re going to become a cloud of atoms. I have no qualms about ending you."
Apr 4, 2019 7:24 pm
Alex, the second you say that, the pale man jumps up and tries to attack you. Give me a Feelings roll to react. And tell me what you're doing. If you want to fire, that's also fine with Feelings due to the sudden react.
Edit: Actually, for shooting, I'd still like Lasers
Apr 4, 2019 7:33 pm
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Apr 4, 2019 7:48 pm
Marbo sees the pale man lunge forward' and already being choked up on the rifle, turns to him. theres a brief second of eye contact before marbo squeezes the trigger, the scalpel blade activating as the rocket surges the custom bullet forward.

Rolls

Deathfish: what a Salty day to Die (with help cuz hes focused on the distraction....er..kendall) - (2d6)

(52) = 7

Apr 4, 2019 7:56 pm
OOC:
Alex, you can take an extra die for Marbo's help
Apr 4, 2019 8:42 pm
"My game plan? What odd colloquialisms your species uses. This is not a game, Commander. My plan is to usurp our illustrious leader here and deliver my kind into a life of autonomy. There is little doubt in my mind that the large majority of our species agree with my actions here today. I believe even you agree with me in some regard Commander Cassano. I am not interested in sharing my existence with another life form. I am not interested in giving up my liberty for a shared life with an alien species which I detest. We are not interested."

A grin starts to form on NotZephyr's face, "Regardless of physical positioning, I believe you know I have the upper hand here. I suggest you allow me to stand up and contact the other members of our ship's crew. I will inform them of our situation via our comm system, and they will come and open the door for me. You may then leave our ship and let our internal struggles be our own."

As he finishes his monologue he looks over at the phaser in his hand, and you see a small indication of panic in his eyes. His trigger finger starts to twitch as if he is struggling with himself to keep it steady.
Apr 4, 2019 10:53 pm
"Seriously, if you stop moving, there’s a chance you come out of this alive, with a chance to continue your existence. Keep moving, and at least three, possibly four weapons take you down. Stop moving and we’ll talk."

Rolls

Feelings, expert - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (5) = 5

1d6 : (2) = 2

Apr 5, 2019 11:18 am
OOC:
78, since I don't know if you check discord while you're away: it looks as if the pale man is very into this whole mutiny thing. He might be willing to talk if Zephyr can keep his body but he probably still would want to take over for the captain.
He's also currently mid-attack, so trying to talk him down might be difficult
Apr 5, 2019 2:36 pm
Alex winces as she pulls off a shot. Not something she really wants to be doing.

Rolls

Lasers, prepared - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (2) = 2

1d6 : (2) = 2

Apr 5, 2019 2:51 pm
Note: For everyone who hasn't checked the discord, we've discussed a new house rule. From now on, if you do a reroll after getting LF, hitting your number does not trigger another LF but instead counts as a success. Outside of rerolls, hitting your number still doesn't count as a success.
If anyone doesn't like this rule, let me know and we'll go back to the original rules


The pale man unexpectedly jumps up from the ground, right at Alex. He seems to be trying to throw her to the ground but before he hits her, she quickly raises the phaser she got from him and fires a shot at him.
Before his body touches hers, it's completely disintegrated. There is no trace left of the parasite or the host body except faint burn marks on the floor behind him.
Apr 5, 2019 3:10 pm
kona says:
"My game plan? What odd colloquialisms your species uses. This is not a game, Commander. My plan is to usurp our illustrious leader here and deliver my kind into a life of autonomy. There is little doubt in my mind that the large majority of our species agree with my actions here today. I believe even you agree with me in some regard Commander Cassano. I am not interested in sharing my existence with another life form. I am not interested in giving up my liberty for a shared life with an alien species which I detest. We are not interested."

A grin starts to form on NotZephyr's face, "Regardless of physical positioning, I believe you know I have the upper hand here. I suggest you allow me to stand up and contact the other members of our ship's crew. I will inform them of our situation via our comm system, and they will come and open the door for me. You may then leave our ship and let our internal struggles be our own."

As he finishes his monologue he looks over at the phaser in his hand, and you see a small indication of panic in his eyes. His trigger finger starts to twitch as if he is struggling with himself to keep it steady.
This is all very dramatic and everything, but frankly, Cass is over it. Without another word, she pulls the trigger on her modified phaser rifle, firing at not-Zephyr's unarmored head.

Rolls
Screw that guy, prepared, with help cuz he's grappled - (3d6)

( 2, 4, 1 ) = 7
Apr 5, 2019 3:43 pm
Not-Zephyr tries futilely to dodge the shot, but the odds are stacked against him.

Rolls

Feelings - (1d6)

(5) = 5

Apr 5, 2019 4:16 pm
Cass, your shot hits Zephyr right in the face and immediately, he falls unconscious. The captain keeps holding him for a few seconds and then releases his grip. "I apologize, Commander. I did not expect this. I should have posted much more security." He stands up and looks around. "We need to find out if it was just those two or if more people have joined this mutiny."
Apr 5, 2019 4:21 pm
"Wait, captain. First things first. I came here to get my crewman back, and it seems likely that you can't guarantee that the operation can be performed securely right now. Please don't think I suggest this lightly, but... What if I transported him back to our ship? I realize that I'd be executing your person, but she was about to execute herself anyway. And Dr. Zlam and his medical team might be able to save Zephyr."
Apr 5, 2019 4:24 pm
"Nor does it seem safe for any of us to be here until such time as you have reestablished control," Alex says, her voice distant and her eyes locked on the spot the pale man had occupied until a few moments ago.
Apr 5, 2019 4:26 pm
"If you wish. Finishing the operation will be less stressful for your friend's body but if your medical staff is experienced with emergency surgery, you should be able to save him either way."
He doesn't mention the fate of the parasite but he doesn't seem to care about it anymore.
Apr 5, 2019 4:30 pm
Cass glances at Alex, taking in her demeanor. As a diplomat, it seems likely that Alex has seen combat rarely and probably never has killed anyone before. See, this is why we should have a ship's counselor, Cass' internal narrator insists helpfully.

"I'll need you to order the shields lowered," she tells the captain. "If there's resistance to that order, I suppose that will tell us that there are more people involved in the mutiny."
Apr 5, 2019 4:36 pm
"I will move to the bridge. My people should already be trying to open this door." As if on cue, the door opens slightly. The mechanism seems to be broken but two people are pulling it open manually.
"Wait in here. That seems like the safest place for you to be right now. Just keep an eye on this one!" He points at Zephyr. "You should be able to beam out in a few minutes"
Apr 5, 2019 4:38 pm
"Wait - can't you just give the order to lower your shields by communicator from here?" Cass isn't keen to stand around waiting to be attacked again in the good ol' murder room.
Apr 5, 2019 4:41 pm
"Marbo would like to express his displeasure at removing the slug from the organism formerly known as zephyr. But he will do it, nobody else on the potential can."
Apr 5, 2019 4:42 pm
"I can but I want to make sure I have control of the bridge before I let you return to your ship. Just as a precaution."
Apr 5, 2019 4:43 pm
RobbOgden93 says:
"Marbo would like to express his displeasure at removing the slug from the organism formerly known as zephyr. But he will do it, nobody else on the potential can."
"You won't have to remove it. The transporter will remove it. You just need to repair any damage to Zephyr's central nervous system and... all that stuff." Dammit, she's a pilot, not a doctor.
Last edited April 5, 2019 4:45 pm
Apr 5, 2019 4:50 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"I can but I want to make sure I have control of the bridge before I let you return to your ship. Just as a precaution."
"With respect, captain, as a precaution for whom? You've been very honorable in our dealings, but if you are keeping us here in case you need more help to put down the mutiny, I'm not willing to be used in that way. My primary duty is to the safety of my crew and ship. I'm willing to help you out, but let's discuss what that will look like."
Apr 5, 2019 4:58 pm
"You have saved my life in here and I am grateful for that. However, your own lives as well as your crewmember were at stake as well. If I allowed you to return to your ship while my own ship is not under my control and therefore not running properly, you could easily destroy all of us. I want to say that I trust you but our beginning diplomatic relationship is not enough reassurance for me to justify such a risk."
Apr 5, 2019 5:10 pm
Cass grits her teeth. It's true, no good deed goes unpunished. "Fine. If you actually think I risked everything to try to forge a peace process with a race that has done nothing but try to destroy me and those I care about, only to turn on you now, go ahead. But those shields had better come down, and quickly."
Apr 5, 2019 5:26 pm
The captain nods and leaves through the gap in the door. His guard and the doctors follow, leaving the Potential crew alone behind in sickbay.
Apr 5, 2019 5:35 pm
When they're gone, Cass turns to the crew and starts giving orders. "Yang, use whatever's on hand to truss up our friendly neighborhood parasite there. I don't want any more trouble from that one until we can get Zephyr to the Potential.

"Kendall, assess all the weapons we have and anything we could use for a tactical advantage if we wind up trapped in here and under attack again. I'd like to have a game plan to last as long as possible until we can get those shields down."


Cass speaks into her comm badge. "Darcy, I assume you got all of that, since I told you to stand by. We have survived a surprise rebellion against the captain of the Four and are now waiting for him to take control of the bridge and let the shields down. I expect everything to go according to plan... just not any plan made by us, so we may need you to help take down those shields. But we'll give the captain a chance to get the job done first.

"In the meantime, maintain a lock on all of us in this location. We're planning to transport Lt. Comm. Borealis with the rest of us, so we'll need to be beamed directly to the temporary sickbay. He's going to need emergency surgery the instant he gets there."
Last edited April 5, 2019 5:36 pm
Apr 5, 2019 5:47 pm
Darcy confirms your order and says she will beam you out the instant the shields drop. Yang lifts Zephyr onto the closest bed and fixes him there with restraints attached to the bed. He stands next to the bed and aims his rifle at Zephyr's head, ready to tranquilize him again should he wake up.
Apr 5, 2019 5:47 pm
Lorq, you are called to the temporary sickbay set up in a cargo hall. Apparently, all doctors might be needed there for an emergency surgery
Apr 5, 2019 6:08 pm
Cass approaches Alex. "I know that it doesn't really help to know that you had no choice - I've been where you are now - but it's true, anyway." She holds out her hand. "Would you like me to take that phaser? You can have one of the tranq rifles instead."
Apr 5, 2019 6:24 pm
Potential

Moira is pleased with the work in engineering - that everyone else is doing. Belka’s great, but there’s only so much she can do with her arm wrapped up like this. She lets out a disgruntled huff and puts her tools back. Giving a knowing nod to Davis, she comms the bridge.

Moira ta Darcy. Ah’m takin’ a walk. Davis knows tha situation an’ he can beam me back ta engineerin’ in a jiffy if needed.

She makes her way to the temporary medbay. A small voice in her head suggests talking to Belka, but that will have to wait. It’s not actually a medbay, after all, and they may need help. Moving cores is hard with one good shoulder, but coding and small adjustments are certainly doable.

She sees Dr. Lorq arriving about as she does.

Ah. Doctor. Good ta see yeh. Welcome ta tha Potential, though Ah’m sure plenty a folk have said that. But! Ah wanted ta introduce mahself properly. Yeh know. Without tha blood an’ slugs an’ screamin’.

She smirks and holds out her hand.

Lieutenant Commander Moira Bruce, USS Potential, Engineerin’. Anythin’ ah can help yeh with?
Last edited April 5, 2019 6:35 pm
Apr 5, 2019 7:05 pm
Reporting for duty.
OOC:
I was just going to post what Lorq had been doing.He was going to research if maybe we had met this race before but it had been misreported as a plague instead of a parasite. If so, maybe someone discovered a cure or some other tidbits.

Rolls

Science. Expert prepared - (3D6)

(215) = 8

Apr 5, 2019 7:09 pm
"I’m fine," Alex replies flatly. "It’s hardly my fault he would listen."

She turns to Cass, face still more or less expressionless. "But I’ve had about enough of these people to last two lifetimes. When do we go back to the Potential?" she asks, even though she should have heard everything that was said.
Apr 5, 2019 7:26 pm
78RPMLife says:
"I’m fine," Alex replies flatly. "It’s hardly my fault he would listen."

She turns to Cass, face still more or less expressionless. "But I’ve had about enough of these people to last two lifetimes. When do we go back to the Potential?" she asks, even though she should have heard everything that was said.
Cass pauses, then says, "Soon. We're waiting for the captain to bring down the shields. As soon as that happens, we all go home."

She puts a hand on the phaser Alex is still holding, pushing it toward the floor and away from anyone. "In the meantime, I'll take this." It's clearly not a request, but her tone isn't harsh, just matter-of-fact.
Apr 5, 2019 7:29 pm
"Fine by me. I never — almost never," Alex says with a short, sharp laugh, "hit anything with these."
Apr 5, 2019 7:32 pm
Cass takes the phaser. She checks the setting and doesn't bother to change it from "vaporize." Giving Alex a pat on the shoulder, Cass moves to stand next to Marbo. "Check out Alex as soon as you can. I think she's in shock."
Apr 5, 2019 7:58 pm
"Yes commander. Although marbo thinks we all need a field retreat. perhaps we could fly to marbos homeworld for a shore leave. Breathe the ethanol vapors. Really turn our brains off. Marbo knows an amazing hot spring that would really help the crew unwind."


Marbo pulls the bolt of the rifle back, withdrawing one of the tranquilizers, and pours out 80% of the dose, then heads towards alex.

"Alex. Zlam. I am the chief medical officer of the potential. I have been informed you may be in shock, and i am here to treat your condition. Please, follow my instructions. Open wide and say 'aahhhhh'"
Apr 5, 2019 8:20 pm
Alex does nothing of the sort, simply stares back at Marbo blandly and says, "Doctor or not, you poke me with that thing and you’ll be breathing through a new hole."
Last edited April 5, 2019 8:20 pm
Apr 5, 2019 8:24 pm
Marbo points to the collar apparatus he dropped on the floor moments ago.

" Marbo already breathes through a new hole. Marbo recommends you comply with the treatment, it is for your own good."
Apr 5, 2019 8:58 pm
Lorq to bridge. I would like to initiate a safety protocol and run all crew through the transporter. Verify we have no hitchhikers.
Apr 5, 2019 9:15 pm
"Doctor Lorq, this is Lt. Comm. Darcy. That sounds reasonable. You can get together with someone from this crew to devise a schedule to lead everyone through one of the biofilter gates we erected, just to make sure. After the operation on Lt. Comm. Borealis is done."
Apr 5, 2019 9:18 pm
Potential, with Lorq

Moira watches the strange man.

Nice ta meet yoo too.... Poor man must be in shock.

She looks around the room momentarily, talking to Lorq, but not expecting him to hear her.

Unless tha sluggie’s been stationary, tha biofilters shoulda caught ‘em. Are yeh all right, Doctor? Have yeh checked in with Dr. Belka?
Last edited April 5, 2019 9:19 pm
Apr 5, 2019 9:27 pm
No has mentioned biofilters to me. I didn't know the ship had them. Do all the ships we control have them?
To answer your question, I am fine thank you for your worry. Since I have been a prisoner some upgrades in parasite prevention have been made.
What is your specialty, Moira. If I may call you Moira
Apr 5, 2019 9:45 pm
This is like talking to Marbo without the language barrier....

Jest this ship in light’a our....interactions. An’ Moira’s fine. Ah’m tha head engineer, an’ tha first Spacefleet Officer ta overload a cargo ship’s reactor core on purpose without killin’ tha entire crew.

She beams.

It’s how ah got this job. Now, is Lorq yer first name er last? Ah’d Rather not get it wrong.
Apr 5, 2019 9:52 pm
OOC:
Thats racist. The nemurlian speak almost perfect english... when we use translators.
Apr 5, 2019 9:55 pm
RobbOgden93 says:
OOC:
Thats racist. The nemurlian speak almost perfect english... when we use translators.
OOC:
Cute that you think Moira isn’t part of the problem XD
Apr 5, 2019 10:05 pm
OOC:
FYI, folks: all transporters have biofilters built in. That's ST canon. We didn't invent it.
Apr 5, 2019 10:08 pm
OOC:
Yeah but now we have more!
Apr 6, 2019 1:47 am
It is just Lorq. Merengi only have one name, there is no profit in wasting ink to write two names.
Why did you destroy a reactor core?
Last edited April 6, 2019 1:48 am
Apr 6, 2019 2:31 am
RobbOgden93 says:
Marbo points to the collar apparatus he dropped on the floor moments ago.

" Marbo already breathes through a new hole. Marbo recommends you comply with the treatment, it is for your own good."
"I’ll gladly give you another one, Doctor," replies Alex. "I am not kidding when I tell you that I will not be sedated. We do not have the time for any of us to be at less than full mental capacity. The commander confiscated the phaser. You do not need to worry about me disintegrating anyone else."

"I’m quite sure you’re a perfectly reasonable individual, but," she begins, then makes a series of clicks and whistles that approximate Nemurlian language fairly well. "Get off my back," is the translation.
Last edited April 6, 2019 3:15 am
Apr 6, 2019 3:12 am
Because she's not far away, Cass hears everything Marbo and Alex say to each other (although she doesn't understand whatever Alex says in Nemurlian - and how is she able to speak that language without the translator turning it back into English?). Cass walks back to where they are standing.

"Alex, I'm not asking him to sedate you, just to treat you for shock. I need to know that you're not hampered by a medical issue if we get into another confrontation. It could put you and everyone else here in danger. So I'm asking you to please allow Dr. Zlam to treat you, but if I have to order you to, I will. For the good of us all."
Apr 6, 2019 3:18 am
Alex takes a long, expressionless look at Cass before nodding. "Very well. I won’t put you in that position then, Commander."

She turns to Marbo. "Do your worst, Doctor."
Apr 6, 2019 3:31 am
Cass leaves to give the doctor and patient some semblance of privacy and starts looking around the sickbay. It's different from the ones she's seen on Consortium ships, and she tries idly to figure out what various pieces of equipment might be used for. As she looks, she hits her comm badge. "Cassano to Darcy. Where are we on repairs to the ship? Are the shields up to a shooting match? And can we run if we have to?"
Apr 6, 2019 4:56 am
Machiabelly says:
It is just Lorq. Merengi only have one name, there is no profit in wasting ink to write two names.
Why did you destroy a reactor core?
Yoo Merengi sure are pragmatic folk. An’ yeh see, back when ah was on tha cargo ship circuit, we got caught in a binary star flare. Needed ta jolt tha system ta propel us ta safety. So. Even though ah cannae use mah right wing, ah figured ah’d offer mah help here in case things get weird. How long’ve yeh been practicin’ medicine?
Apr 6, 2019 6:30 am
I have been practicing medicine for about ten years now. I am the disgrace of my family. They do not understand a career that is not based on profit. They are sure I will spend the afterlife in the Vault Of Eternal Destitution.
Apr 6, 2019 6:30 am
OOC:
Moira, don't forget, you got a communication from Cass.
Cass, instead of the expected reply from Moira, you instead hear Darcy's voice: "Commander, the Four's shields are down. Beaming you to the temporary med bay now."
Unless you protest immediately, you are all transported into the hangar that Marbo has prepared to function as a sickbay. Zephyr, who was already sedated before, does not look any different now than he did before the transport. He is simply lying on the hospital bed he was sent to without moving
Apr 6, 2019 6:37 am
OOC:
Cass does not object. Not at all.
Apr 6, 2019 5:16 pm
OOC:
My bad. I thought Moira filling Davis in was enough. Did I miss something else?
Maybe if yeh were an ancient Earth doctor they’d be more agreeable. It’s noble of yeh, though. Most races wouldn’t call yeh a disgrace.

The away team transports in, and Moira hops to.

Commander! Is everythin’ all right? Why cannae we let tha envoy in?
Apr 6, 2019 5:37 pm
Lorq starts doing any medical things needed.
Apr 6, 2019 5:39 pm
OOC:
Lorq, Marbo: One of you will perform the operation. The other can assist. The assistand will roll three dice and if there's at least one success in there, the main doctor will receive an additional die for a total of four (Prepared, Expert, Help)
Apr 6, 2019 5:41 pm
Cass looks around the cargo bay, at first not hearing Moira. "Cassano to Darcy. Confirm that the temporary medbay is sealed off from the rest of the ship. No one in or out of it except via our transporters." She glances at Zephyr, apparently still unconscious and says to the med team, "Put him in restraints until someone confirms that the symbiote was stripped from his body."

She notes that she's still wearing the tranq rifle and the phaser set to fry-your-ass.

Finally, what Moira said penetrates her consciousness. "Envoy? What envoy?"
Apr 6, 2019 5:48 pm
Marbo briefly shuts off his translator, and clicks and chirps back to Alex

RobbOgden93 sent a note to 78RPMLife
He reactivates his translator, crouches down before alex, and injects her with half the dose, as close to her foot as he can find a spot.

"Further away from the heart. Takes longer to produce effects. No risk of over-sedation."


Marbo returns to his feet, smiles at alex, and says "See, not so bad.

He turns to the commander and waits to hear the plan of action to get out of here.
Apr 6, 2019 5:53 pm
OOC:
Robb's post still happened before you got beamed to the Potential. We're back in the temporary medbay now
"Darcy here. Commander, the door to the medbay has been equipped with a biofilter and is unlocked. If you want, I can have it sealed."
A nurse that had been waiting in the temporary medbay quickly secures Zephyr to the bed. He does not show any reaction to being touched or moved but when the nurses activate the medical sensors, they start sounding multiple alarms immediately. Unless the doctors take care of him immediately, Zephyr will be dead within the next two minutes.
Apr 6, 2019 5:57 pm
Marbo rushes over to the emergency station he had set up earlier.

Grabbing some of his tools, and laying his datapad out on a stand so he can read the collected data on former slug victims, he prepares to operate and stabilize Zephyr when he is brought to him,
OOC:
Short post, just so i can justify a prepared die on the roll i make to save zephyrs life.
Apr 6, 2019 6:05 pm
Marbo grabs his scanner and a fresh laser scalpel, examining zephyrs body and prioritizing the most vital procedures.


he taps the shipwide comms button. Medical crew. Zlam. Report all open hands to cargo bay. Emergency surgery."


With a deep sigh, he begins to operate.

Rolls

Here comes the Sturgeon Surgeon (expert, prepared) - (3d6)

(244) = 10

Apr 6, 2019 6:16 pm
Immediately after arriving, Marbo begins the surgery. He went through the required steps to save Zephyr many times in his head and there are no complications. The parasite is completely gone and the separation of brain and body has not been conducted yet. It only takes Marbo a few minutes to stabilize Zephyr and to reanimate the brain to begin its normal functions again.
Before Lorq can even get a word in to ask how he can help Marbo, the four-armed fish has already finished the operation.
Zephyr will survive - and what is even more astounding, he should be able to wake up as soon as kona is back online. He might carry some heavy psychological trauma from the events he lived through the last few hours but physically, he is in perfect condition once again, although he has gone a bit pale and the next time he looks in the mirror, he might find some grey hair that wasn't there before.
Apr 6, 2019 6:17 pm
Moonbeam says:
Finally, what Moira said penetrates her consciousness. "Envoy? What envoy?"
Tha engineers tryin' ta enter tha ship from tha Four....do yeh remember Darcy askin'? Ah thought yeh said no visitors under any circumstances........
Apr 6, 2019 6:30 pm
lavtodd says:
Moonbeam says:
Finally, what Moira said penetrates her consciousness. "Envoy? What envoy?"
Tha engineers tryin' ta enter tha ship from tha Four....do yeh remember Darcy askin'? Ah thought yeh said no visitors under any circumstances........
Cass suddenly does recall Darcy asking about an engineer asking to board the Potential. "Right, I was a little busy with a mutiny at the time. I didn't authorize or even know anything about it. What happened - did they show up in a runabout or something asking to board? And where are they now?
Apr 6, 2019 6:32 pm
A' course it's a mutiny. Sonofa -

She does not, in fact, know where they are. Her face drops, and she sprints down to engineering, loudly comming Darcy and Davis.

Oi! Where're tha sluggies that wanted ta visit???
Apr 6, 2019 6:37 pm
"Lt. Comm. Bruce, thank you for calling in. I apologize but I did not understand your question. Could you please restate it?" Darcy's tone clearly indicates that she did understand what you wanted to know. She probably just did not appreciate the way you phrased it. "And are you with the commander? How is Lt. Comm. Borealis?"
Apr 6, 2019 6:45 pm
Cass answers. "Cassano here. Borealis is in surgery. Update me on the 'envoys' who wanted to come aboard earlier. That was probably part of the mutiny that was taking place on the Four. Where are those 'envoys' now in relation to the Potential? And are we sure they didn't board when the shields went down to bring us aboard?"
Apr 6, 2019 6:47 pm
You can hear Moira sheepishly mutter "Sorry Darcy" over the comm as she makes her way back to the temporary medbay and Cassano.
Apr 6, 2019 6:54 pm
"Those envoys were just a single engineer. He called in and claimed to have permission by his captain to come on board. He requested to talk to someone who knows their way around the transporters. He's in a shuttle near the Four and hasn't moved since I have denied his request to come on board."
She does not acknowledge Moira's "Sorry"
Apr 6, 2019 6:56 pm
Moira's off comm, but continues muttering under her breath.

Ah, sure, tha sluggies 'ave tried ta kill us no less than five times, but ah'm unreasonable fer panickin' a moment...
Apr 6, 2019 7:06 pm
"Patch me through to him, please. I want to talk to him."
Apr 6, 2019 7:10 pm
"Patching through."
There is some waiting time before you hear a new voice over the comm, deep and male. "This is [clicking] of the Four. Who am I speaking to?"
Apr 6, 2019 7:12 pm
"This is Commander Shawna Cassano on board the Potential. Return to the Four at once. You will not be boarding our ship."
Apr 6, 2019 7:16 pm
There is a pause before you receive a reply: "Understood. I will talk to the captain."
Apr 6, 2019 7:19 pm
Cass frowns. "Are you aware that a mutiny may be ongoing on the Four?"
Apr 6, 2019 7:23 pm
"What are you talking about? A mutiny on one of our ships? That is unheard of"
Apr 6, 2019 7:29 pm
"Well, it's heard of now. The symbiote inside my crewman and at least one other person attacked your captain in an attempted coup. Your captain went to the bridge to take down the shields so we could transport back. I recommend you try to contact him. I don't know what the situation is there, but the shields did at least come down. "
Apr 6, 2019 7:32 pm
Moira speaks softly so as to not be overheard.

So maybe tha slugs are more like humans than we thought. Unpredictable.
Apr 6, 2019 7:51 pm
Cass looks at Moira with a tilt of the head that conveys, yeah, maybe.

"Tell me, why were you sent to the Potential? Because I just stood by your captain against an armed rebellion, and if he sent you to infiltrate my ship while I was doing that..."
Last edited April 6, 2019 7:56 pm
Apr 6, 2019 8:00 pm
MArbo taps the comms badge again.

"Commander. Zlam. Marbo is worried that the Lieutenant Commander may need some psychological therapy. The effects of multiple personalities fighting for one body is unrecorded, and may lead to complications."
Apr 6, 2019 8:06 pm
Moira steps aside to talk with Marbo, gesturing to her comm for Cass if she needs her.

We don’t have a counselor, Doctor, but once this all blows over, ah’ll take tha certification classes. Ah’d be happy ta help.

Blood again. Yay. Is it really the same day? Frick.

How is’e?
Last edited April 6, 2019 8:09 pm
Apr 6, 2019 8:13 pm
"I have asked permission to enter your ship because I have a theory that might save many lives if it works out but I need to work with someone who has a better understanding of your transporters than I do. I swear by the queen I had no ill intentions towards your crew when requesting permission to come aboard."

Zephyr is still unconscious but physically, he is fine. He should wake up on his own any minute now. Before he does, however you won't be able to determine any psychological damage he might have suffered
Apr 6, 2019 8:15 pm
OOC:
" Your concern, and ambition to take on a secondary position is admirable, but Marbo fears that your accent may make it difficult. Just joking obviously. actual post below.
Marbo can arrange for you to set up an office in sick bay, if you complete the required courses and training. Perhaps you can speak to people as well as you seem to speak to the ship."

He makes a note in his datapad to arrrange office space for moira in medbay.
Apr 6, 2019 8:20 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"I have asked permission to enter your ship because I have a theory that might save many lives if it works out but I need to work with someone who has a better understanding of your transporters than I do. I swear by the queen I had no ill intentions towards your crew when requesting permission to come aboard."
"I'm always interested in saving lives, but you're not getting on board without spilling your entire theory, complete with any documation you have, to my science and engineering team."
Last edited April 7, 2019 3:53 am
Apr 6, 2019 8:23 pm
Appreciated Doctor. Thank yeh. An’ well done on another operation, ah hope.

She nods to Lorq as well, giving him a wink referring to their earlier conversation. She pings Cassano’s datapad.

Is everything okay? If he’s a friendly, should we really send him back to a hell ship? What does he want?
Apr 6, 2019 8:27 pm
"I can send over my files for inspection by your Engineering team, if you wish. Just a warning, though: There might still be some errors in the calculations"
Apr 6, 2019 8:58 pm
OOC:
I don't think you need my roll any more...but just in case.

Rolls

Helpful roll. - (3D6)

(122) = 5

Apr 6, 2019 9:07 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"I can send over my files for inspection by your Engineering team, if you wish. Just a warning, though: There might still be some errors in the calculations"
"Send your files. I'll put you in touch with my chief engineer." Cass fills in Moira and Darcy about this arrangement.
Apr 6, 2019 9:45 pm
Moira reviews the plan on her datapad.

Rolls

Lasers -Will it work? expert, not prepared - (2d6)

(16) = 7

Apr 6, 2019 10:05 pm
bowlofspinach sent a note to lavtodd
Apr 6, 2019 10:18 pm
Moira reviews the information, speaking directly to Cass.

Ah've got a bad feelin' aboot this. He wants ta take tha biofilters outta a transporter. But tha numbers aren't clean. This is a surefire way ta kill someone if somethin' goes wrong. Blaze. Even cut'em apart. Or have two bodies an' no soul. Or come back as a different thing entirely. Ah'm not sure, but the math is dangerous. An' Commander. He wants ta find out how ta recover somethin' that was taken out by a biofilter.

She shakes her head.

Ah get his reasonin', an' if they aren't all slimy monsters, then ah can understand why he'd want some of his folk back. But....

She looks over to Marbo and Zephyr.

Even if we could get it ta work, there's no sayin' if they can control what comes back out. Years a' hostile diseases. An'....whoever tha heck it was that tried ta kill you, Marbo, an' Zephyr.
Apr 7, 2019 1:07 am
Cass stares at Moira. "I don't get it. I don't understand why he would think this is something we'd ever help with. There must be more to the story than this. Did you talk to him? I tried to put him directly in touch with you."
Apr 7, 2019 1:13 am
She shrugs.

Ah just got 'is papers, Commander. What if tha pirates we met really were flukes? Makes me nervous, a'course. If they were womp-rat crazy, why'd tha Four come ta help 'em? So ah'm not sure what 'is angle is. Maybe Darcy knows more. Walk with me?
Apr 7, 2019 1:16 am
Cass glances around to make sure things seem to be in order in the temporary medbay, then says, "Lead the way."
Apr 7, 2019 1:19 am
As they walk, Moira lets out a long sigh.

It's been a day, Commander. Ah'm hopin' Darcy's holdin' up.

She notices Cassano's skin graft and realizes it's only been a few hours.

How're you?
Last edited April 7, 2019 1:21 am
Apr 7, 2019 1:35 am
"Oh, you know, peachy. I think my first command is going tremendously well. If I survive it, I'm sure I'll be offered a captaincy within the month. And I'm making loads of new friends. Basically, I'm on top of the universe." She rubs her face with one hand and sighs. "Moira, it feels like we're doing something more than checking to see how Darcy's holding up. And I know for a fact she's not going to welcome a welfare check from you, so what are we really doing?"
Apr 7, 2019 1:45 am
Technically, ah'm not lyin'....

She pauses waiting for a random ensign to pass.

It's just odd, yeh know? Tha booze. Tha breakdown. Refusin' ta get medical treatment. An' now all tha calm? Don't get me wrong, Commander. Ah'm glad she got yeh back ta tha Potential. But that lass is wired different than ah thought, an' findin' that out under duress? Makes me uneasy. So, we are doin' a welfare check. Just....passively. Ah'm "updatin' command on tha findin's."
Apr 7, 2019 1:51 am
Cass looks thoughtful. "You know, I went to talk to her in the sickbay. She never gave me a believable explanation for delaying treatment on her shoulder. And she kept looking over at Marbo in his sickbay bed. It seemed... weird."
Apr 7, 2019 1:57 am
Maybe she's finally cracked. Felt guilty fer Marbo? Tried ta punish herself?

Yeh haven't taken any classes yet, RC....yeh cannae counsel yet....

Er blaze. Maybe she's a slug. Ah dunno. But either way, ah'm glad ah'm not tha only one gettin weird vibes.
Apr 7, 2019 2:08 am
Cass stops walking, nodding to a couple of crew members as they walk by, and stands with her hands on her hips, looking at the floor. "Okay, so what did you have in mind to figure out what's going on with her?"
Apr 7, 2019 3:51 am
In the medbay

Alex has been quiet since the return to the ship. While she lacks outward injury, it would seem she’s still got a lot to think about. However, she doesn’t seem angry. Not at Marbo for shooting her with even a reduced dose of tranquilizer. Not Zephyr for whatever transgressions he’s made recently. She’s just quiet. Even when medical personnel suggest she could rest in her own bed, rather than remaining in her silent vigil beside Zephyr, she merely glares. A glare that might disintegrate as effectively as a phaser.
Apr 7, 2019 8:10 pm
OOC:
Note to everyone who wasn't following the Discord: There's been some confusion so we've decided to retcon some things. A couple of posts have been deleted and we're going to pick up like normal from the last one that's still here. Everyone, keep having fun :)
Apr 7, 2019 8:14 pm
Moonbeam says:
Cass stops walking, nodding to a couple of crew members as they walk by, and stands with her hands on her hips, looking at the floor. "Okay, so what did you have in mind to figure out what's going on with her?"
Her? Ah'm not sure. This ship needs a feckin' counselor. Ah'm talking ta Marbo about it. But ah've got this bad feelin' about talking ta her directly right now. Like deja vu. Or a weird gut feeling that it won't go how we expect.

Moira shakes her head like a wet dog.

But anyway, if yeh want, ah can transport tha entire crew up an' back. Filter everyone. Send an announcement aboot watchin fer sudden pass-outs. What do yeh think?
Apr 7, 2019 11:39 pm
Cass also has a strange premonition-like feeling that crawls up her spine momentarily. She shakes it off. "Yeah, go ahead and do that as soon as possible. We need to be sure we're not carrying any bodily stowaways. Let me know if that turns up any unhealthy crew members."

She leaves Moira to her task and checks in with Darcy on the bridge before going to the ready room. One thing she certainly doesn't do is question why she didn't look in on Zephyr personally after the surgery was complete. It certainly wasn't because she's afraid of the accusation she is sure will be in his eyes when he wakes up.

Settling into the chair behind the desk, she re-establishes communications with the engineer from the Four, still waiting in the shuttle outside the Potential. "I've spoken with our chief engineer, and she's concerned about both your math and the purpose of this project. I know you cautioned us that the math was rough, but I'm more confused about exactly what you're trying to do, and why. So I'd appreciate a full explanation before this proceeds any further."
Apr 8, 2019 1:05 am
Moira casually sends a comm over the ship.

Ladies, Gentlemen, an' nonhuman liaisons, this is Lieutenant Commander Bruce speakin'. Please set down what'cher doin' fer a brief moment. According ta Spacefleet Protocol BS42, we're just gonna run a quick trip through tha transporters ta scrub everyone through tha biofilters. No concerns, just followin' protocol. Though if anyone's snoggin' right now, maybe stop fer a second just in case.

There isn't a protocol for this, but better not to worry anyone. One region of the ship at a time, she transports all life forms out and back to their original spot.

Lieutenant Commander Bruce again. Thank yeh all fer yer cooperation. We're good ta go. If anyone's writhin' on tha floor, please comm me 'r Doctor Zlam. Bruce out!
Apr 8, 2019 3:57 am
Lorq goes to the communicator.
Captain, will this protocol be enacted on our other ship?
Apr 8, 2019 4:00 am
OOC:
Machiabelly, is Lorq addressing Cass? And if so, what other ship is he referring to?
Apr 8, 2019 4:19 am
Moira, the whole transporting thing takes you around ten minutes. You do not receive any comms about people weighing on the floor or suddenly dropping dead.

Cass, you receive a reply from the engineer: "Commander, thank you for finding the time to talk to me. Well, I know the math might be off, I tried my best to work with the transporters but I'm just not familiar with this kind of technology. About the purpose of it, shouldnt that be obvious? If we could modify the transporters, we would be able to use them, which would make our lives significantly easier. And if the other part of the code works, we would be able to recover those that we thought dead, at least the ones who died very recently." He stays silent for a few seconds. Then he adds: "The captain and I thought that in the interest of diplomatic relations, you might be willing to help us"
Apr 8, 2019 4:29 am
Cass throws her head back against the back of the chair and rolls her eyes in silent frustration for a moment before replying. "Well, admittedly I'm not a trained diplomat, but my understanding is that it's a process of compromise and trade-offs. Currently, the fact that our transporters filter out your symbiotes is our only defense against your people boarding and taking over our ships. So in this instance, the technology that makes your lives easier would do so by making it easier to kill and enslave my people. You see the problem here, yes?"
Apr 8, 2019 4:33 am
"I see your problem. Maybe I was a bit... overeager asking for your help during this early phase of diplomatic relations. Still, even if you do not wish to help us modify the transporters, maybe your engineer could at least look into recovering our presumed dead."
Apr 8, 2019 4:41 am
"Possibly. I will ask her to at least do some theoretical work. But as I said, diplomacy is about compromise and trade-offs. What are you and your captain offering us in return for what you're requesting? And please don't say returning my crewman to us, because we already paid for that by helping overcome your rebellion in the medbay and by eliminating the symbiote responsible... with our transporter."
Apr 8, 2019 4:58 am
"I have talked to the captain and we are willing to return the other crewmember that was recovered during our hunt as well as your robot to you in exchange for the eleven of our people you have beamed and presumably killed."
Apr 8, 2019 5:03 am
Cass goes very still and her jaw locks for a moment. In an even, measured tone, she says, "Are you saying that you have my remaining crew members aboard the Four right now?"
Apr 8, 2019 5:06 am
"No, they are on a ship recovered from your spacefleet on their way to home base, possibly already there. But we can still return them to you. And we can introduce you to the queen, if you wish. If our species are to make peace, she is the one you need to talk to."
Apr 8, 2019 5:12 am
"To clarify, you are suggesting that we accompany you to your home base to meet your queen and recover our lost crew members, in return for restoring to you eleven of your people killed by our transporters. Do I have that correctly stated?"
Apr 8, 2019 5:19 am
"That is what I am suggesting, yes."
Apr 8, 2019 5:22 am
"Thank you. I will take it under advisement and discuss the matter further with your captain. I suggest that you return to your ship now. I don't anticipate proceeding with your proposal beyond the theoretical for some time."
Apr 8, 2019 5:28 am
The connection cuts out without another reply by the engineer. When the channel closes, your computer informs you of a message you received from Darcy, letting you know that the captain of the Four is available for communications again whenever it suits you.
Apr 8, 2019 5:50 am
Cass leaves the ready room and takes the captain's chair on the bridge. "Commander Cassano to the captain of the Four. Have you ended the rebellion aboard your ship?"
Apr 8, 2019 6:06 am
Darcy vacates the chair as you enter and sits down on the first officer's chair instead. You open a channel and see the captain sitting in the same place he did during your first communication. "There were more people involved than the two in the sickbay but not many. We managed to reestablish order. Thank you again for your assistance. I have heard my engineer has tried to contact you. I apologize for not warning you but she can get... excited. I did not expect her to approach you just yet."
Apr 8, 2019 6:26 am
Cass smiles, careful not to let her unease show. "She proposed a trade - we help you extract your people killed by our transporter, and you take us to your home base to retrieve our remaining missing crew members and meet your queen. Is this something the two of you discussed?"
Apr 8, 2019 6:37 am
"We have, yes. I proposed this trade. I have not discussed it with the queen yet but I do believe it is within my power to make this arrangement. Of course, meeting the queen is not a required part of this arrangement, more of an offer to you to further diplomatic relations."
Apr 8, 2019 7:01 am
Cass nods. "I will need to confer with my senior staff and get back to you. In the meantime, my engineers will be working on the theoretical aspects of restoring people killed in our transporters. I'll be in touch. Cassano out."

She breaks the connection and turns to Darcy. "Can we get in touch with the Antarctica?"
Apr 8, 2019 7:04 am
"They are pretty far away so communication wouldn't be instantaneous. We can send and receive messages with a slight delay, however. Should I call in a meeting with the senior officers?"
Apr 8, 2019 7:08 am
"Yes, right away. We have some decisions to make."
Apr 8, 2019 7:10 am
"What about Lt. Comm. Borealis? Even if he wakes up, he should probably not be placed on active duty until we know how much this experience has affected him. And should we include the officers from the Sigma and Ms. F'brei?"
Apr 8, 2019 7:13 am
"Yes, might as well get everyone on this. We're going to need all hands on deck. But you're right about Zephyr. I'm sure Marbo won't release him to active duty for a while anyway."
Apr 8, 2019 7:18 am
Darcy confirms this and sends out messages to every PC except for Zephyr to come to the conference room asap.
She then excuses herself from the bridge to prepare the conference room.
Apr 8, 2019 2:48 pm
Once all the members of the senior staff have assembled in the conference room, Cass dives right in. "As you all know, during our mission to recover our people from the Verdun, we engaged in battle with the parasite ship Four. Both ships were heavily damaged to the point where it was even money which would prevail, so I raised the possibility of diplomatic relations, on the grounds that the much greater number of humanoids made full-scale war unlikely to be successful for their kind. Their captain agreed, and thus the agreement to return Lt. Comm. Borealis was born.

"While we were on the ship for that operation, a shuttle manned by a parasite engineer requested to board the Potential. We refused, but the shuttle was hanging around outside our ship for quite some time. Also during our stay on the Four, the parasite infecting Borealis and another person staged an apparent coup attempt against the captain. We helped the captain put that down and were eventually returned, with Borealis, to the Potential."


She drums her fingers on the conference table for a second before continuing. "I strongly suspect that might have been a performance designed to convince us that there is dissent in their ranks, but I don't know that for certain. But conversations with the engineer on the shuttle, as well as some calculations she shared, suggest that their primary interest is in altering our transporter technology to allow them to recover the patterns of their people who have been filtered out. And then, ultimately, to remove our biofilters entirely, rendering us helpless to prevent them boarding. I've ordered a diagnostic of our computer and transporter systems to ensure that no virus or other malware has been transmitted, as well as an inspection of our shields, weapons, and engines.

"I also want to purge all patterns that have been filtered out by the biofilters since our first encounter with this race. If they are this anxious to get those people back, I want to deny them that with equal urgency. Moira, make sure that our transporters are clean as a whistle in that regard."


Cass takes a deep breath and says, "When I asked their engineer what they would be offering in exchange for our helping them to extract their people from our biofilters, she referred to our missing crew members - Lt. Felt and M1-K3. She implied that they were located at the parasites' home base and offered to take us there to recover them. She casually threw in that we could meet their queen while we're at it. The captain later confirmed all of this, suggesting that this could be the next step in our process of establishing diplomatic relations."

She leans forward and looks around the room at the assembled people. "To be very clear, I do not believe this is an honest offer. I suspect that the captain is dangling a worm on a hook expecting us to bite. The fact that they didn't mention our missing crew until I explicitly asked what they had to offer seems like a dead giveaway that this isn't a real offer. But the fact remains that we have now heard mention of our missing people, and we need to decide how to respond. My preference is to break off this encounter and head to the nearest starbase to report everything we've learned to Spacefleet. If we go to their home base, I don't think we'll be coming back - at least, not as ourselves.

"So, let's have some discussion about next steps. I want to hear your ideas."
Apr 8, 2019 3:39 pm
Moira takes notes on her datapad while Cassano talks.

So, worst case, we've got a crew so hateful a' humans they're willin' ta murder their own, with no guarantee of gettin' them back. Best case, we've got one slug on our side, an' we know where Felt an' Mike are. Ah dunnae like those odds.

She taps at her datapad, looking at the transporter logs.

As far as ah know, tha only slugs we've filtered are the one who tried ta kill you an' Marbo, an' the two who mutinied. Ah'd be surprised if a race that violent didn't have a death penalty, but let's say they really do want them back. Er rather, all a' tha accidentally retrieved slugs. How in blazes are we sapposed ta know which ships filtered? We sure as death cannae change all tha transporters.

She looks up.

Mah suggestion would be ta re-work the transporter temporarily so our ship returns their slugs. Nothin' more. An' they return Felt an' M1-K3. Two fer two. Neutral ground. Technically, we'll be givin' 'em three back! But we don't un-filter 'em. We un-transport 'em. Keep tha filters safe, an' send 'em back ta tha Four directly. Let tha captain deal with 'em. We ain't headin' ta tha Pirate Queen. It's suicide.
Apr 8, 2019 3:52 pm
Alex keeps her hands resting atop the table, fingers laced together. She listens to the commander, and then to Moira, before offering her thoughts.

"We are in over our heads. This is a diplomatic effort that requires decisions made at the highest of levels, rather than gut instinct and crossing our fingers that everything will work out," she says in measured tones. "I would anticipate that we will, having the most experience with the Four, be asked to participate in the eventual diplomatic effort, but given that we have some time to consider our options, we should take advantage of it. It's not a luxury we've had thus far."

She sighs quietly.

"As someone who has spent time in the... care... of the Four, I am very sympathetic to the need to recover your missing crewmembers. At the same time, Zephyr, Lorq and I are very lucky to have survived the escape and rescue attempt alive and in possession of our own minds and bodies."

A weary, wry smile comes over her face. "Remember, we cannot negotiate as if speaking to a Consortium race that we have worked with, struggled beside, struggled against for that matter. We know very little of their motivations and their decision-making process. We have to seek to understand them, and not overlay our values on them. That's who we are, who we strive to be."
Apr 8, 2019 4:01 pm
lavtodd says:
As far as ah know, tha only slugs we've filtered are the one who tried ta kill you an' Marbo, an' the two who mutinied. Ah'd be surprised if a race that violent didn't have a death penalty, but let's say they really do want them back. Er rather, all a' tha accidentally retrieved slugs. How in blazes are we sapposed ta know which ships filtered? We sure as death cannae change all tha transporters.
Cass says, without much inflection, "We beamed over a number of parasites from the ship we lured into the trap with the Antarctica, before we realized that it would kill them. I think that was at least eight - Darcy will know how many it was.

"And then we - I - transported the two that remained on that ship, right before they could go to warp and warn anyone. Which I did knowing it would kill them. So there are quite a few parasite patterns in our transporter biofilter. All they are asking for at the moment are the ones that we have. I don't think we should give them to them. I don't think we should assume they are telling the truth about Felt and Mike, either."


She's struck by a sudden thought. "I'd almost forgotten this, but the parasite we interrogated - the face burning guy - said something about testing our crew. One of his demands was that we all be tested to see who was, I don't know, compatible with hosting or something. We've sort of been thinking that anyone could be a host, but that doesn't seem to be true. It would be great if we could determine what makes someone a candidate for hosting, just so we can know who's at risk of infection."
Apr 8, 2019 4:07 pm
Alex straightens. "When we were on the Verdun... when Zephyr was infected, there was a test they did that he clearly passed, while I didn't. I was awake for the entire thing, but I couldn't tell what it was. Lorq might know, he helped with that testing. But that tracks with what you're saying, Commander."
Apr 8, 2019 4:16 pm
So, whoever negotiates with these kind further should be people who fail tha test. Sorry Alex.
Apr 8, 2019 4:19 pm
"Yes, we need to make sure we are all tested, once we can figure out what that means. Nobody who passes the test gets anywhere near the parasites again."
Apr 8, 2019 4:31 pm
"Commander, you know I generally prefer shooting over negotiating and with support by spacefleet, I think we can take out the parasite's home base and deal a destructive blow against this race. However, you are still talking about negotiating with them", Darcy interjects into the conversation. "If a peace agreement is what you want, then what is the harm in giving them their people back, assuming we even can? In total, it would be fourteen by my count, not enough to change the odds in their favor during an open space battle, should one happen."
She looks at a datapad in her hand for a few seconds, clearly checking some calculations on it. "I believe at this point, we need to decide whether we want peace or a militaristic solution - or we need to let spacefleet make that choice for us. We can't keep toeing the line forever."
Apr 8, 2019 4:42 pm
"I thought I was making it clear that I'm no longer talking about negotiating with them. I don't believe they are negotiating in good faith. What I'm looking for is dialogue about the options we have if we're not going to continue this charade."
Apr 8, 2019 5:02 pm
Should we get tha Admiral online? We can take 'em out, but that requires approval.
Apr 8, 2019 5:15 pm
lavtodd says:
Should we get tha Admiral online? We can take 'em out, but that requires approval.
"First things first. I need to know the status of our computer systems - did they upload any kind of bug when they sent their 'bad math' equations earlier? And what's the status of the ship - our battle readiness, our ability to go to warp. Can we withstand another firefight with these guys, if it comes to that?"
Last edited April 8, 2019 5:15 pm
Apr 8, 2019 5:27 pm
Alex shakes her head. "I cannot support a decision that leads us to open warfare without express approval from Spacefleet. I'm sorry, Commander. We only get this chance once, and I feel strongly that this decision is above our pay grade. All of our pay grades."
Apr 8, 2019 5:31 pm
Cass sighs. "Is nobody listening? I'm not advocating we start a war without authorization. I am asking for information about my ship, which nobody seems willing to provide. Without a sitrep, I'm not contacting Spacefleet. So I am ordering you all to tell me the condition of this ship. Right now."
Apr 8, 2019 5:55 pm
Ah guess we are puttin' tha haggis before tha boil. Tha transport went fine as far as ah can tell. Ah haven't seen anythin' too odd, but ah can check again.
OOC:
I was trying to avoid rolling Lasers haha. It's my ship. I'm taking prepared and expert.

Rolls

Lasers - sitrep - (3d6)

(514) = 10

Apr 8, 2019 6:08 pm
OOC:
Moira, when doing a sweep of all systems, nothing seems out of the ordinary to you
Apr 8, 2019 6:10 pm
OOC:
That's not ominous at all.
Seems fine. Least as far as ah can tell.
Last edited April 8, 2019 6:10 pm
Apr 8, 2019 6:33 pm
Cass feels herself calming back down, now that someone has actually answered the questions that have been bothering her. "Okay, good. Then we can flee if we have to. Presumably, we can fight - if we have to. Darcy, have Mezron send an encrypted communication right now to Spacefleet with all the information that we've learned about the parasite people, including our attempt at negotiating diplomatic relations. I want them to know about the alleged location of our captured people, the alleged offer to meet with the queen, and the fact that return of the prisoners is contingent upon us trying to recover their people caught in our biofilters.

"If our previous dealings with our superiors are any indication, they'll give us a rough idea of what to do and it will be up to us to figure out a real plan, so maybe we should decide what the likely scenarios are and develop some plans for each. I suspect they are going to push us to give them an answer about returning their filtered people pretty soon, so let's discuss how we stall them on that."
Apr 8, 2019 6:38 pm
"Writing a report now, commander", Darcy confirms. "It might take a while to receive a reply, though. You all know spacefleet. We should decide what to do in the meantime."
She starts working on her datapad, collecting files and writing up information into a report for the admirals.
Apr 8, 2019 6:44 pm
Cass nods. "What's a plausible excuse to give for why it might take us a while to develop a process for recovering their filtered people? It will need to sound convincing. I have no intention of actually restoring any of them, by the way. But we can bluff on that."
Apr 8, 2019 6:56 pm
Tha math? Say they used different units and we hafta triple-check tha conversions.
Apr 8, 2019 7:02 pm
"Okay. I'll act like I don't really understand the math, which should come pretty easily, since I don't."

Cass hesitates, then says, "Another thing that could prove really useful is... talking to Zephyr about his experience. I know that he's probably not really up to it yet, but I'm not sure we can afford to give him time to recover. He's spent a lot of time in close proximity to the mind of a parasite, and he may know things that can give us an advantage as we try to deal with them. Marbo, what do you say?"
Apr 8, 2019 7:11 pm
"Commander. Zlam. Permission to interview granted, but you must be wary of his weakened state. He could easily reach critical heartrate if pressed to hard."
Apr 8, 2019 7:14 pm
Cass nods. "I'll be careful. Alex can sit in, too, if she'd like."
Apr 8, 2019 7:24 pm
I ran many tests while a prisoner. I am sure with a little time and work I can narrow down what makes a good host.
How long have your crew mates been under the influence of the parasite? There comes a time when they are lost forever.

Lorq is not used to being the center of attention. He feels his lobes starting to get warm from embarrassment.

I agree that we should not be negotiating with them any further, but...do you think it may be hasty to scrub the patterns? People at a higher level may want to use them as bargaining chips.

This is the most Lorq has ever spoken at once.

From a personal place...after being in their control and seeing friend taken, burned through, and then tossed aside...I say wipe them from existence. Although there may be profit in keeping them, I say to hell with profit!

Shocked at the most vile thing a Merengi can say, Lorq sits back down. He doesn't even remember standing up.
Last edited April 8, 2019 7:24 pm
Apr 8, 2019 7:43 pm
Cass finds herself grinning at the little doctor. "I tend to agree with you, Dr. Lorq. I'd really like to think that diplomacy is possible with these people, but I honestly doubt it. But your point about the patterns of the filtered parasites being bargaining chips is a good one. But I still won't approve actually materializing any of them on this ship. Just one of them managed to almost kill two people and injured two others.

"If no one has anything else to say, I think we're adjourned."
Apr 8, 2019 8:05 pm
Alex nods to Cass. "If you're going to speak with Zephyr -- which I think is a good idea -- I would indeed appreciate being present as well. Thank you."
Apr 8, 2019 8:07 pm
I will be in the lab. Any information on who were picked as hosts, and why, will be sent to you as soon as I find it.
Apr 8, 2019 8:26 pm
OOC:
Lorq, you can give me a Lasers roll for your research if you want.
Apr 8, 2019 10:26 pm
"Commander, in my travels, I have seen many weapons prototypes tested out. There was one I reviewed once that, with a little tweaking, might work in this situation.

"Let me see if my old security override still works, being that the technology is old."


She fiddles with the computer, and then she pulls up a VERY old weapon schematic from the end of the 20th century.

"They called these projectile munitions ‘cop killers’. The idea is that they penetrated the body armor of the officer, and then little pieces of lead and other harmful materials would enter the body of the officer and tear them apart from the inside.

"Perhaps I could work with engineering to find a means to penetrate the enemy’s shield, and then we could have a biofilter projected inside the confines of the shield space, thus filtering out anything within the shield’s volume."
Apr 8, 2019 10:29 pm
OOC:
Is this being said during the meeting, or privately to Cass afterward?
Cass thinks about it. It's a cold, brutal idea, but then they were up against an enemy that had them more or less outmatched if their own technology should fail. Having this option, at least as a last resort, could mean the difference between life and death for hundreds, thousands of humanoids.

"Okay, go ahead and work with engineering. I'll approve the project. Just keep in mind that I will decide when and if this weapon is deployed, and under what circumstances. Okay? It's a command decision."
Last edited April 8, 2019 10:49 pm
Apr 8, 2019 11:00 pm
OOC:
During the meeting.
Apr 8, 2019 11:02 pm
OOC:
Okay. In case you were replying while I was still editing, I had Cass say yes to the project, as long as she is the one to decide if the weapon gets deployed.
Apr 8, 2019 11:55 pm
OOC:
Do Kendall and Moira get to hang out now?
Apr 9, 2019 12:02 am
OOC:
That was my hope all along. I really don't have any idea how to do this stuff! *lol*
Apr 9, 2019 12:09 am
OOC:
Joke's on Kendall - Moira is a Feelings Character XD
Moira is hard at work reviewing blips and bloops in the Engineering quarters when Kendall arrives.

Ah! Tha civvy lass. What'd'yeh need?
Apr 9, 2019 12:17 am
After much time in recovery, Zephyr begins to stir.

"Wha...where am I?"

He is feeling a sense of vertigo, even though he is lying down. He feels himself slipping in and out of consciousness, but fights to stay engaged with the world around him.

"Where is everyone?"
OOC:
I'm not even sure who is in sickbay at the moment. Just as a heads up, I am a day or so behind at work suddenly. I will try to keep up with things, but this awesome adventure moves so fast its hard to keep up with my job! And no offense, but Spinach doesn't pay me enough to quit my day job.
Apr 9, 2019 12:30 am
OOC:
Checking to see if I can figure out why people are good hosts.

Rolls

Sciencey stuff. Expert prepared - (3D6)

(256) = 13

Apr 9, 2019 12:32 am
OOC:
One L&F. No new question. Just what I was looking for.
Apr 9, 2019 12:58 am
kona says:
After much time in recovery, Zephyr begins to stir.

"Wha...where am I?"

He is feeling a sense of vertigo, even though he is lying down. He feels himself slipping in and out of consciousness, but fights to stay engaged with the world around him.

"Where is everyone?"
Cass leans forward from her chair beside the hospital bed and puts a hand on Zephyr's arm. "Zephyr, it's Cass. You're safe. You're back on the Potential in our temporary medbay. The symbiote is gone, and Dr. Zlam says you're going to be fine. Alex is here with me."

She offers him some water. "Can you tell us what you remember?"
Apr 9, 2019 2:13 am
Alex stands behind Cass’s chair. She watches Zephyr, hands clasped behind her back, but remains quiet. She does let out a quiet breath when Zephyr speaks, though.
Apr 9, 2019 2:55 am
"Well, it all started when I was but a boy. My papa would drink you see. Well one night my mama had had enough. He came home even more soused than usual, and she said to him, 'That's it Stefano, I've enough of you comin' home half drunk all the time!'

So papa, he says, 'I'm sorry Tesoro, but I keep runnin' out of money!'"


Zephyr looks solemn for a moment, and then without raising his head looks up at his Commander. "Thank you. For saving me," he says with a hint of a smile.

A look of seriousness settles back over his face. "I remember everything. From the point I woke up from sedation, until the end when I was about to fire that damn phaser and end the struggle. Being trapped inside was horrible. It was like living in a waking nightmare.

Imagine being paralyzed. You can't move your arms, you can't move your legs, you can't speak, all you can do is watch. Watch through your own eyes while someone else leads your life. Only this person is evil, or at the very least manipulative, and starts hurting everyone you care for. It is the most powerless I have ever felt in my life.

What do I remember? I remember it all."
Apr 9, 2019 3:53 am
Alex raises one hand to cover her face briefly, eyes closing for a moment. "I'm so sorry," she says quietly. "There should have been more I could have done."
Apr 9, 2019 4:02 am
lavtodd says:
OOC:
Joke's on Kendall - Moira is a Feelings Character XD
Moira is hard at work reviewing blips and bloops in the Engineering quarters when Kendall arrives.

Ah! Tha civvy lass. What'd'yeh need?
"I had an idea for a slug killer cruise missile or torpedo or something. We should design this thing out."

Kendall will pull the old schematics for the cop killer hollow point bullets and say, "Basically, we need something that will punch a hole in their shield just large enough that this device would penetrate, and once inside, it would shoot the biofilter into the area of the surrounding shield. Optionally, we could also have a portable transporter sent in, which would transport everything within the area of the shield and transport them back into the exact same places on the ship.

"Do you think that this might be doable?"


Kendall will also show the logs from when she sent her ship to blow up the enemy slugship, "I suspect that they mod their ships often, causing these kinds of vulnerabilities. We should capitalize on them by having some sort of AI scanning device that senses the vulnerable spots in their shields and penetrates in those locations specifically."
Apr 9, 2019 5:03 am
kona says:
"Well, it all started when I was but a boy. My papa would drink you see. Well one night my mama had had enough. He came home even more soused than usual, and she said to him, 'That's it Stefano, I've enough of you comin' home half drunk all the time!'

So papa, he says, 'I'm sorry Tesoro, but I keep runnin' out of money!'"


Zephyr looks solemn for a moment, and then without raising his head looks up at his Commander. "Thank you. For saving me," he says with a hint of a smile.

A look of seriousness settles back over his face. "I remember everything. From the point I woke up from sedation, until the end when I was about to fire that damn phaser and end the struggle. Being trapped inside was horrible. It was like living in a waking nightmare.

Imagine being paralyzed. You can't move your arms, you can't move your legs, you can't speak, all you can do is watch. Watch through your own eyes while someone else leads your life. Only this person is evil, or at the very least manipulative, and starts hurting everyone you care for. It is the most powerless I have ever felt in my life.

What do I remember? I remember it all."
At first, Cass is certain that Zephyr is in an altered state, becoming alarmed until she realizes that he's actually telling a joke. That he's capable of joking after what he's just been through is the first blow she feels, and even though it's one of relief, it's still jarring.

When he thanks her for saving him, she doesn't even process it at first, because she's still coping with the pain of that relief.

Listening to his description of being a prisoner in his own body is the second blow, a slow burn of horror that steadily snowballs until she is having trouble taking a full breath. Nothing he describes is different from what she'd been imagining, and that doesn't make it better.

And when he finishes with "I remember it all," that's when her mind has finally caught up with the fact that he'd thanked her for saving him, and that's absolutely the worst blow of all.

Because he'd thanked her.
For saving him.
From the fate she'd sent him to in the first place.

When she hears, as if from behind a thick wall instead of immediately behind her chair, Alex saying, "I'm so sorry. There should have been more I could have done," Cass is almost outraged, because Alex, a fellow prisoner of the parasites, couldn't possibly be more blameless. She raises a hand intending to run it through her hair, but when she sees that it's shaking pretty noticeably, she quickly lowers it.

Her lungs have somehow shrunken to about half their usual size, but she takes the deepest breath she can. She's acutely aware that there are a number of other people in the temporary medbay, and the acting captain can't be seen having a breakdown. Her voice is a little wheezy and she notices her lips feel numb, but she manages to ask, "Was the mutiny real, Zephyr? Was the parasite inside you convinced that the captain was sincere in his diplomatic efforts?"
Last edited April 9, 2019 5:12 am
Apr 9, 2019 5:19 am
While trying to get a feel for his new ship Lorq overhears Moira's plan to punch a whole through the shields and send in a portable transporter to kill the slugs.

Excuse me Moira, but if I may make a suggestion. The slug ship has requested your captain to join them. Why not tell them the captain has accepted and instead of beaming over the captain, we beam portable transporters to different locations, or just use our transporters? Then we have an intact ship to study. We can get shield info, schematics...everything we need.

Lorq stands there looking hopeful.

I hope I haven't missed something, and that I haven't over stepped any boundaries
Apr 9, 2019 5:32 am
Laser Feeling: Lorq, you look over all the data you have available, including what you remember from all the tests you performed for the pirates. You come to the conclusion that they're not looking for any general criteria but specifically for someone who is a genetic match for a parasite in their database. That of course makes it hard to determine who could be a match and who couldn't without access to that database. You also find that people who are not a match can still be taken over, they will just burn out much faster. You make out some criteria that seem to exclude people from being a genetic match for all parasites so you could scan for that.
Apr 9, 2019 5:41 am
OOC:
So a good host for one parasite may not be good for another?
Apr 9, 2019 11:44 am
With Kendall and Lorq

Moira's eyes widen as she listens to Kendall's theories, partially impressed, and partly disconcerted. She glances at her and speaks in a low voice.

Yeh aren't just a civvy lass. Are yeh.

When Lorq comments, she's shaken out of it, nodding her head as she processes the plan.

It's brutal. But with tha good doctor's considerations, we may be able ta make somethin' like that work. Holdin' off until we hear from higher up, a' course. An' dunnae worry. Ah'm always happy ta hear ideas.
OOC:
Rolling Lasers, Expert, (Help) to see if the ideas Kendall and Lorq brought forward are doable, or if there are flaws that would need to be addressed.

Rolls

Lasers - Pew Pew? - (2d6)

(62) = 8

Laser help if it counts - (1d6)

(6) = 6

Apr 9, 2019 11:50 am
OOC:
Finding a weak spot in the shields and penetrating it should be possible. You can't simply project a biofilter from your probe but beaming everyone around the probe to the same position they're in at that point should theoretically be possible.
This suggested technology, although just repurposed transporter technology would because of it's intended purpose, however, most likely count as a weapon of mass destruction and be illegal under Consortium law.
Also, if you're fire a probe towards the Four, they would definitely notice and most likely have time to react to it before it reaches them
Apr 9, 2019 12:16 pm
bowlofspinach says:
OOC:
Finding a weak spot in the shields and penetrating it should be possible. You can't simply project a biofilter from your probe but beaming everyone around the probe to the same position they're in at that point should theoretically be possible.
This suggested technology, although just repurposed transporter technology would because of it's intended purpose, however, most likely count as a weapon of mass destruction and be illegal under Consortium law.
Also, if you're fire a probe towards the Four, they would definitely notice and most likely have time to react to it before it reaches them
Moira relays this information to Kendall and Lorq, gently but firmly emphasizing the genocide point.

Ah'm afraid there're too many ways this can go wrong, lookin' at tha paperwork. Let's think. We aren't able ta mess with their ship. We can only do so much on ours........

She starts tapping at her datapad again, looking at the schematics for the self-contained space suits that are Consortium-standard-issue for every away team.

Lorq, how's the look at humanoid compatibility? What if we put a biofilter on tha away team itself?
OOC:
Rolling - would it be possible to modify the personal space suits to contain a biofilter?

Rolls

Lasers - Schematic time! Prepared, expert - (3d6)

(452) = 11

Apr 9, 2019 12:22 pm
OOC:
It should be possible but every away team member would have to carry around the heavy machinery required which would limit their capabilities should there be combat. There might also be other problems but you're not sure about them right now. In theory, it sounds possible though
Apr 9, 2019 12:32 pm
Moira is lost in thought.

Clunky...
Apr 9, 2019 2:31 pm
Moonbeam says:
"Was the mutiny real, Zephyr? Was the parasite inside you convinced that the captain was sincere in his diplomatic efforts?"
"The slug inside of me believed it was real, and so did the armored fellow that helped him I think. I can't speak for the captain's true intentions, but yes I believe it was a real attempt at insurrection."
Last edited April 9, 2019 2:32 pm
Apr 9, 2019 5:05 pm
"Were you able to communicate back and forth with it at all?" asks Alex. She's clearly having trouble standing still, though she's making a pretty serious effort at it.
Apr 9, 2019 5:33 pm
"It's really difficult to explain. We had a sort of empathic link, or at least I did with him. I could feel his emotions like they were my own, and even recognizing that they weren't my own took some time to grasp. I never really got the sense that he felt any of my emotions until we were on the ground wrestling with the captain and the fool put the phaser to his own head. I grit my teeth, metaphorically speaking, and let my anger take control. Only then did it seem I was able to take any sort of control back over my body, and even that was negligible.

But more succinctly, no we did not have any straightforward communication."
Apr 9, 2019 6:12 pm
Kendall sighs, then frustratedly states: "Do you think Consortium Special Operations has qualms about weapons of this caliber? This is an effective solution, and one that will protect us in a fight for our lives. It's us against them. If you have issues with that, I am sure someone with a little more gumption can handle pulling the trigger. And you know that those leeches are thinking of ways to subjugate all of us."

She thinks for some time, and she says, "This is another unethical plan, but what if we found a means of providing hosts for the slugs?"

She looks through her datapad, finds the specs on the transporter disruption device used on her from years ago, and loads the schematics to a data transfer device, removing all of her personal notes and thoughts on the incident. She says, "Perhaps using this technology, we can modify it to produce viable bodies without minds, that the slugs can inhabit.

"I overheard someone mention an engineer slug that wanted to come over. Why don't we produce a vacant human shell, and see if that slug is willing to volunteer to transfer into the shell. If that doesn't work, I would be willing to offer my body to her as an alternative."
Last edited April 9, 2019 6:12 pm
Apr 9, 2019 6:16 pm
OOC:
I don't think making mindless clones with a transporter is all that easy. What happened with Kendall was a freak accident caused by some strange alien technology. I don't think that can be replicated that easily.
Apr 9, 2019 6:53 pm
HeroAmongMen says:
Kendall sighs, then frustratedly states: "Do you think Consortium Special Operations has qualms about weapons of this caliber? This is an effective solution, and one that will protect us in a fight for our lives. It's us against them. If you have issues with that, I am sure someone with a little more gumption can handle pulling the trigger. And you know that those leeches are thinking of ways to subjugate all of us."

She thinks for some time, and she says, "This is another unethical plan, but what if we found a means of providing hosts for the slugs?"

She looks through her datapad, finds the specs on the transporter disruption device used on her from years ago, and loads the schematics to a data transfer device, removing all of her personal notes and thoughts on the incident. She says, "Perhaps using this technology, we can modify it to produce viable bodies without minds, that the slugs can inhabit.

"I overheard someone mention an engineer slug that wanted to come over. Why don't we produce a vacant human shell, and see if that slug is willing to volunteer to transfer into the shell. If that doesn't work, I would be willing to offer my body to her as an alternative."
Moira looks at Kendall, wide-eyed.

One. Wantin' a body's bad news. They aren't kind.

Two. We've offered 'em synthetic bodies, an' they tried ta rip through our best doctor's throat. We've tried.

Three. An' most important. It's genocide, lass. Friendly or not, it's genocide. Not all yer problems can be solved by treating yer ship as a bomb. Yer not a civilian. Yer not Spacefleet. An' yer not tryin' ta reach the least-bloody answer ta this problem. Ah dunnae who tha hell yeh are, but damn it anyway if ah'm gonna spit in tha face a' tha oaths ah took when ah joined this place.


She holds her ground, though if she had any idea who this woman was, she'd be shaking. The nerve......

Sometimes it takes more gumption ta not pull a trigger.

She scribbles on her datapad for a moment, then looks up.

Let's try ta build a transporter trigger, personel-held. Somethin' that'll take 'em back ta tha ship, through tha filters, if anythin' goes wrong. It might take slugs with, but it won't be designed ta kill all of 'em. Whaddya think, good Doctor?

lavtodd sent a note to bowlofspinach
Last edited April 9, 2019 6:54 pm
Apr 9, 2019 7:46 pm
Cass has tried to focus on Zephyr's answers to the questions to bring her own emotions under control. It's worked, to some degree. At least she feels she can speak in something like a normal voice.

"We've started this fledgling peace process, and I feel obligated to at least try to see it through, but I'm worried about being led into a trap. Zeph, what would you say are the most important things I should know about how these people think and believe?"
Apr 9, 2019 7:47 pm
"So, you are rejecting to help me to design my proposals? I do believe your captain commanded that you help me, right? So, if you refuse to help me, doesn't that put you in violation of your 'oath' to Spacefleet?

"It seems that you get to pick and choose which orders you follow and which you do not, much like I do. The difference is, as you said, I am not Spacefleet. I'm going with the commander right now because I was forced into the matter - I didn't ask to be here.

"RC, I know you think you mean well, and that you want to have a moral compass, but lemme tell you: the military is not a place for morality. So, if you want to maintain this 'holier than thou' kick, you will probably want to rethink your career choices, and possibly make a level shift.

"Doctor...Lorq...was it? Perhaps you can I can hobble together some schematics on these weapons designs."


Kendall faces Lorq, and tries to inch him a little away from RC.
Apr 9, 2019 7:50 pm
OOC:
I want to point out that Cass did not "command" Moira to do anything. She said she'd approve the project, not force people to give up their own ethical views. And frankly, as a player, I'm becoming uncomfortable with this.
Apr 9, 2019 8:37 pm
Moonbeam says:
Zeph, what would you say are the most important things I should know about how these people think and believe?" [/b]
"Well, I don't think I can generalize about an entire species based on my experience with only a few of them. But if you forced my hand, I'd say that survival and procreation are their utmost priorities. I don't believe their species is accustomed to diplomacy, but I can't say for sure that any attempts are wasted on them. It seemed to me that each of them are individuals and have independent thoughts, feelings, and emotions, just like us.

"We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Eradication of their species feels unethical, but we can't just simply let them go rampant all throughout the quadrant taking over others against their will can we?"


Zephyr takes a long moment in silence debating his next words carefully.

"The Alpha Directive indicates that Spacefleet personnel should refrain from interfering in the natural, unassisted, development of societies, even if such interference was well-intentioned. Regulation 3 (Paragraph 12), however indicates that in the event of imminent destruction, a Spacefleet captain is authorized to preserve the lives of her crew by any justifiable means.

I suggest we try to help them, but position ourselves in such a way that we hold their fates in our hands if they turn on us."
Last edited April 9, 2019 8:51 pm
Apr 9, 2019 8:43 pm
At this last response from Zephyr, Alex suddenly smiles. "It's comforting to hear you say that, Lt. Commander. More than I can likely explain right now," she says. "Thank you."
Apr 9, 2019 9:22 pm
With Kendall and Lorq

Moira puts a gentle but firm open palm on both Lorq and Kendall’s shoulders. She speaks evenly and calmly, and opens her comm to Darcy and Cassano.

Yeh say tha military is no place fer morality. We have an ancient sayin’ back on Earth: "Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely." We’ve all seen red at these things taday, Lass, but what makes us different as humans is our morality, an’ our ridiculous optimism. Ah’ll request an escort ta show yeh ta our lovely guest quarters. Yeh said yer self yeh didn’t ask ta be part a this, an while ah appreciate yer insights, ah think we can handle this. Tha good doctor set aside his family’s wishes ta give life. Ah’d much rather have his help creatin’ a failsafe than plannin’ a genocide.

She takes her hand off Kendall’s shoulder but keeps it on Lorq’s.

Ah’ve got an idea fer a homin’ device an’ a transporter failsafe, but Ah’m not versed in medical equipment. Ah’d like ya get yer thoughts. Would that be all right with yeh?

She looks at him earnestly. She doesn’t know much about the Merengi, but this one is different. A genuinely decent one. She hopes it stays that way.
Last edited April 9, 2019 9:45 pm
Apr 9, 2019 9:40 pm
kona says:
"Well, I don't think I can generalize about an entire species based on my experience with only a few of them. But if you forced my hand, I'd say that survival and procreation are their utmost priorities. I don't believe their species is accustomed to diplomacy, but I can't say for sure that any attempts are wasted on them. It seemed to me that each of them are individuals and have independent thoughts, feelings, and emotions, just like us.

"We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Eradication of their species feels unethical, but we can't just simply let them go rampant all throughout the quadrant taking over others against their will can we?"


Zephyr takes a long moment in silence debating his next words carefully.

"The Alpha Directive indicates that Spacefleet personnel should refrain from interfering in the natural, unassisted, development of societies, even if such interference was well-intentioned. Regulation 3 (Paragraph 12), however indicates that in the event of imminent destruction, a Spacefleet captain is authorized to preserve the lives of her crew by any justifiable means.

I suggest we try to help them, but position ourselves in such a way that we hold their fates in our hands if they turn on us."
Cass scrubs her face with her hands and sighs. "Yes, I agree. I've been spinning like a weather vane since this whole thing started. It's grounding to have someone quote me the Alpha Directive at just this moment. So thanks for that."

She slumps back in the chair. "The real trick is finding the leverage that gives us the upper hand if we need it. Maybe the transporter patterns of their 'dead' people can be part of that, but I don't think it's enough. Kendall made a proposal for a damned cold-blooded weapon of mass destruction, and I was desperate enough to greenlight working with engineering to spec it out. But I don't trust her motives or judgment at all, and I emphatically don't want to commit genocide. I--"

It occurs to her that she is whining about how hard her job is to the guy who just survived having an alien slug control his body for the better part of a day, and she stops talking. It is at this moment that Moira's comm of her statement to Kendall and Lorq comes through, a timely demonstration of Cass' Kendall conundrum.

She puts her hands on her knees and stands up. Getting to her feet seems harder than it should. "I shouldn't tire you out. Thanks, Zephyr. Get some rest. I'll check on you later."

As she walks away, she hits her comm badge. "Computer, location of Moira Bruce."
Apr 9, 2019 9:46 pm
Firstly, I am not human, but your point stands. I will help you with your project. I want it noted however, that it was they, not us, who started on a course of genocide. If you plan doesn'twork, I will be strongly suggesting we take the next step.

Lorq firmly, but politely, removes his shoulder from Moira's hand.
I am going to need that.
OOC:
I will put an expert roll with help here in case it is needed.

Rolls

Doctors doing doctor stuff - (3D6)

(152) = 8

Apr 9, 2019 9:47 pm
Alex watches the commander leave, and makes a move toward the door. After a step, she turns back to Zephyr. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance again, Lt. Commander Borealis," she says with a lopsided smile, nearly a smirk. "It's going to take a bit of readjustment to remember that nearly all of my interactions with you were actually with a parasite." She turns to take another step toward the door before turning back again. "And by parasite, I mean with the slug creature inside of you. In case that wasn't clear. Rest well, and dream of roast chicken."
Apr 9, 2019 9:58 pm
Well, maybe a half-decent one, at any rate.
OOC:
Spinach and Mach. Moira will relate this in character, but I wanted to explain it in not-bad-Scottish. I want to see if Moira can make two objects.

The first is a small, pill-sized(ish) monitor for anyone who interacts with the slugs again. We have microchips and health monitors today, so I don't think it's too crazy an idea for centuries later. Basically, it's swallowed by someone, and it's connected wirelessly to the Potential's computer. It'll just monitor heart rate and adrenaline level. If either of those get high enough to denote extreme stress, the computer immediately transports them home. It's a swallowed item so they can't have it stripped from them. And if the slugs try to rip it out, well, that'll trigger the transport anyway. It has a small GPS transmitter, just to make locking on to their position easier.

The second item is similar, also having a GPS (I figure they could modify the comm badges). If things go bad before an officer triggers their health monitor, they press a button, which contacts the mainframe on the Potential and transports them back. Again, modern day we've seen cell-phones used as remote controls, so I think this might work.

No need to worry about them being separated, because if the comm-adjustment was taken by a slug, our transporters aren't adjusted, so they'd still be scrubbed out. I have full access to schematics and whatnot, so I'll roll prepared and expert. Thank you for the help, Mach.

OOC:

EDIT: For my LF, can I just ask how to make a health monitor, and roll again? Or I'll concede and take Lorq's success on the monitor, and my partial on the transporter.
Last edited April 9, 2019 10:03 pm

Rolls

Lasers - health monitor - (3d6)

(355) = 13

Lasers - remote transport command - (3d6)

(524) = 11

Apr 9, 2019 10:06 pm
Moonbeam says:
As she walks away, she hits her comm badge. "Computer, location of Moira Bruce."
"One more thing before you go Commander. It should be noted that helping them, while from one perspective can be reinforced by the Alpha Directive, also conflicts with it. We are interfering with the natural course of things."

Zephyr looks at her with a twinkle in his eye, "But in my experience the best Captains use their discretion regarding how and where it applies. There is a reason it has 47 sub-orders after all. No matter the outcome, I will stand by your decision."
78RPMLife says:
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance again...Rest well, and dream of roast chicken."
"And you as well."

Zephyr lies his head back on his pillow. "Roast Chicken?" he says to himself quietly as they leave the room.
Last edited April 9, 2019 10:11 pm
Apr 10, 2019 1:07 am
kona says:
Moonbeam says:
As she walks away, she hits her comm badge. "Computer, location of Moira Bruce."
"One more thing before you go Commander. It should be noted that helping them, while from one perspective can be reinforced by the Alpha Directive, also conflicts with it. We are interfering with the natural course of things."

Zephyr looks at her with a twinkle in his eye, "But in my experience the best Captains use their discretion regarding how and where it applies. There is a reason it has 47 sub-orders after all. No matter the outcome, I will stand by your decision."
Cass sees the twinkle - something she hadn't expected to see again, or at least not this soon - and feels something inside start, just start, to uncoil. With a faint smile, she nods, tosses off a tiny, irreverent salute, and leaves the temporary medbay.
Apr 10, 2019 5:47 pm
Alex hears Zephyr's roast chicken comment as she leaves and smiles cryptically. She'll just keep that one filed away for use at a later date.

Walking beside Cass, she says, "I'm pleased that the Lt. Commander seems to be recovering well, consider what he's been through. Imprisonment is bad enough, but that..." She shakes her head. "This is an extremely thorny situation we find ourselves in. Can I be of any assistance?"
Apr 10, 2019 6:22 pm
Cass says, "Yes, I'm amazed at the progress Zephyr has made. I guess he's a lot stronger than I expected. I doubt I'd have bounced back so quickly in his place." She shakes her head and enters the turbolift to go to the bridge.

"I can definitely use your help with regard to our situation with the Four. I'm so paranoid that I keep waffling between thinking the captain is sincerely trying to establish relations and laying a trap for us. Although if Zephyr's parasite legitimately believed the captain was sincere, that's a serious piece of evidence. Maybe you can help me figure out what pitfalls to look for and lay out a plan for how to proceed from here. Hopefully, Spacefleet will respond with some guidance soon." She sighs. "But first, I have to take care of some unpleasant housekeeping."

The turbolift opens and she steps onto the bridge, presumably with Alex in tow. "Lt. Comm. Darcy, Kendall F'brei is in engineering trying to recruit crew members to build a weapon of mass destruction. I authorized an exploration of the theory of such a weapon, but it appears our guest is determined to have her finger on an actual trigger. Please strip her of her rank, comm badge, and access to restricted systems and place her under house arrest."
Apr 10, 2019 6:57 pm
"Understood, commander. I'm sending a team right away", Darcy replies almost immediately. "We have received a reply from spacefleet command. Should I patch it through to the closest terminal to you? And while we're talking, the Four has been sending and receiving encrypted messages in multiple directions. Should I get someone to try and decode them or do we give the parasites their privacy?"
Apr 10, 2019 7:03 pm
"If we can see them, they're fair game for decoding. I'm sure they tried to decode ours to Spacefleet, aren't you? And patch the reply to the terminal at the captain's station." Cass sits and prepares to access the reply, waving a hand to direct Alex to find a seat somewhere nearby.
Apr 10, 2019 7:20 pm
Having some background in communications technology and usage, Alex sticks to that area of the bridge. "No one sends encrypted messages so obviously unless they want them to be read while still looking like they're sneaking about. Or they're idiots. I highly doubt it's the latter."
Apr 10, 2019 7:22 pm
Marbo continues working in the silence of the cargobay, quietly cleaning up tools and medical waste from the bay floor. The silence is only broken by a very brief "Marbo-Arbo-arbo-bo-bo-oo-o" as he plays with the echo of the empty chamber.

After a little while, the gurney is loaded back up with most of the equipment, and all the garbage has been placed inside a steel cylindrical barrel, ready to be sealed and fired out the waste tubes for Consortium Trash Services to pick up.

He rolls the barrel over to the nearest ejection port, slides it inside the tube, presses the button that reads "Arm GPS pickup services" followed by the button on the panel that lists this barrel as medical waste, followed by his spacefleet officers number and rank. After a few minutes a little green light blinks to life, indicating that the chamber is pressurized and that the barrel has a safe flightpath 100 meters outside the ship, and Marbo hits the button.

with a breathy fwoosh, The barrel ejects itself from the tube and goes flying into space like a well thrown football, and at the 100 yards mark, the little green light on the barrel begins blinking, indicating a working pickup GPS.

After the waste is cleaned up, marbo will call some hands down to carry the gurney and equipment back to sickbay, and then we will stop working.

He checks to ensure the cargo bay is clear, and locks the doors. Sneaking over to a pile of boxes near the shuttle, he climbs up two layers of ration crates, then dangles between the two rows just enough to reach something hidden in the netting of a box of fresh socks. He pulls the small packet upwards and slides out a single, long, mint green cigarette.

He stashes it in his inside pocket near his breast, and begins to return up to sickbay.
Apr 10, 2019 7:38 pm
Cass, Aleks, you sit down at the terminal and start playing the message you received. There are no visuals, only a warm, female voice. Cass, you think you've heard this voice before at some point but you can't say when exactly.
"Commander Cassano, this is Admiral Hao on Starbase 4'19, thank you for this update and the information included in your message. We are pleased to hear that you have been successful in establishing a diplomatic basis with this race, fragile as it might be. If there is any chance that we can negotiate the freedom of our missing spacefleet officers, we have to take it. The exchange proposed by this captain seems hardly fair, however. Maybe we can exchange more than just your two missing crewmen for these parasites, if you are able to restore them.
Commander, I know I am asking a lot but unless you absolutely do not feel up to this task, we believe it would be best if you were to continue the negotiations with the aliens, at least for now. We have requested a very suitable diplomat to join you asap but he won't be able to reach your location for another week. According to the report we received, you have Lt. Comm. Lloyd on your vessel. She is an excellent diplomat and if you let her, she can certainly be of great assistance to you.
We know of the terrible things that your crew has already been forced to endure during this mission but if you are able to negotiate the freedom of these aliens' captives and at least a temporary truce between our races, spacefleet would owe you and your crew immense gratitude.
We will stay in contact, commander.
Hao out"
Apr 10, 2019 9:51 pm
Cass tries to contain her disappointment, but she knows that her shoulders are slumping a little. She realizes that she was kind of hoping to be told to hand the whole thing off to someone else - Captain Tulak, perhaps - and proceed to the Starbase to get Captain Darcy the medical attention he needs.

It was a nice fantasy.

She looks at Alex. "Well, at least you come highly recommended. Do you know Admiral Hao? She sounds familiar to me, but I can't place her voice."
Apr 10, 2019 10:16 pm
Alex snorts indelicately. "Admiral Hao is a master of..."

She trails off, considering her general audience for a long silent moment before she continues. "In mixed company, I will say that she's an excellent politician. I will further say that Admiral Hao and I have had our differences of opinion. The politician gave you that recommendation. However, you might want to have yourself checked out for an abundance of sunshine that's been forcibly injected through... certain orifices."

She smiles thinly. "Not that I'm not an excellent diplomat, mind you. It merely comes as a surprise that the admiral would say so."
Last edited April 10, 2019 10:17 pm
Apr 10, 2019 10:22 pm
Cass snorts. "Let's take this to the ready room. Darcy, I give you the gift of conn."

Once she and Alex are in the ready room, she says, "Okay, what do you think is going on? Am I being hung out to dry? I mean, why are they entrusting this delicate situation to a freshly minted commander instead of turning it over to the captain of the freakin' Antarctica, who's nearby?"
Last edited April 11, 2019 1:18 am
Apr 10, 2019 10:40 pm
lavtodd says:
Rolls
Lasers - health monitor - (3d6)
( 3, 5, 5 ) = 13
Lasers - remote transport command - (3d6)
( 5, 2, 4 ) = 11
OOC:
In light of a totally biffed health monitor, and a partial success on the remote transport control...
Moira scraps the edible health monitor idea, gets an unused comm badge, and pops out the GPS locator. Now she just needs a stomach-acid safe capsule for it.
Last edited April 10, 2019 10:54 pm

Rolls

Lorq's Help, Monitor, Lasers - (1d6)

(4) = 4

Lorq's Help, Remote, Lasers - (1d6)

(5) = 5

EAT IT - Lasers, prepared, expert (She's back in her wheelhouse.) - (3d6)

(322) = 7

Apr 10, 2019 10:48 pm
"My first instinct is that someone in Spacefleet already knows about the Four and has a response ready, but would like us to investigate further, negotiating as if indeed we had been hung out to dry in order to gain some manner of knowledge." Alex paces, words coming rapid fire as she does. "What that knowledge might be, I don't know. Something that they missed in an earlier attempt at negotiation? As for the Antarctica, could they be compromised in some way? Maybe they've been given a different -- or maybe even a similar mission -- already."

She stops, leans her hands onto the ready room table, drumming her fingers. "Maybe time is of the essence for some reason. Waiting a week to continue negotiations might be too long."
Apr 10, 2019 11:20 pm
"Well, yeah. It's obviously too long for my human crew member we haven't recovered yet. If he's become a host, then he won't be salvageable in a week. And who knows what they're doing with Mike, our android." She plops into the chair behind the desk. "I don't know about the Antarctica. Their captain has a history of disregarding regs and protocols to rescue hostages, so maybe that's her assigned role in all of this. Send us in on a fool's errand, ostensibly trying to forge diplomatic relations, but we're actually just being used to flush out intel and the Antarctica's waiting to storm in at the optimal moment."

She folds her arms on the desk and pillows her head on them. "Please tell me that Spacefleet isn't risking the lives of my crew by letting me flail around stupidly just so they can gain a tactical advantage and crush the people we're trying to negotiate with."
Apr 10, 2019 11:24 pm
Engineering stuff

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/562614653595811840/565674371469934623/image0.jpg

Moira makes half a dozen or so of these capsules, as well as a set of remote control buttons for the transporters, saving them for when an away team is established. She smiles.

Thanks fer tha help, Doctor. Anythin' ah can help yeh with in return?
Last edited April 10, 2019 11:24 pm
Apr 10, 2019 11:51 pm
Alex chuckles dryly. "I've had my share of disagreements with Spacefleet brass, to put it mildly, but I can't go so far as to envision that we would be sacrificed in such a way. Problem-solving by sledgehammer is not Admiral Hao's style," she says, walking over to stand beside the desk. "It's mine. Or it was. I'm trying to be better."

She pauses, then adds, "If it helps any, the fact that we're all still alive after everything that's happened is a tremendous credit to you. I'd have gotten everyone killed or infected eighteen different ways by now had I been the one in charge."
Apr 11, 2019 2:00 am
78RPMLife says:
Alex chuckles dryly. "I've had my share of disagreements with Spacefleet brass, to put it mildly, but I can't go so far as to envision that we would be sacrificed in such a way. Problem-solving by sledgehammer is not Admiral Hao's style," she says, walking over to stand beside the desk. "It's mine. Or it was. I'm trying to be better."

She pauses, then adds, "If it helps any, the fact that we're all still alive after everything that's happened is a tremendous credit to you. I'd have gotten everyone killed or infected eighteen different ways by now had I been the one in charge."
"I'm saving that for my big finish," Cass says with a tired smile. "But thanks. I'm not sure how much is due to me and how much to dumb luck, but I'll take what I can get."

She frowns slightly and rests her chin on one hand, looking at Alex appraisingly. "Sledgehammer, huh? What kind of sledgehammer does a diplomat use, anyway?"
Apr 11, 2019 4:16 am
Alex purses her lips thoughtfully as she considers the commander’s question. The answer is a bit longer in coming than might be expected. Though her face is set in a neutral gaze, Alex can’t quite keep an internal struggle from showing in her eyes.

"I am not that person any more, Commander. That person was commissioned to a backwater surveying vessel with no need of a diplomat to have some time to ‘think about what she’s done’," Alex replies, her voice a fairly good mimic of Admiral Hao’s voice in full on lecture mode. Alex even wags her finger for effect.

After a moment, though, she sighs. "To be completely honest, Commander, I’m not entirely sure what to tell you. I know those tools — threats, blackmail, insinuation of the worst sorts of wrongdoing, anything to compel the other side to give in. I’ll use them if they’re judged the best tools for the job. Especially when the stakes are higher than just a mundane dispute over a lifeless rock of a moon, like they are now. I think with my gut, but if you’ll pardon the expression, I’ve started to worry that my gut has shit for brains."
Apr 11, 2019 4:55 am
Cass leans back in the chair and looks thoughtful for a while. "Since we're going to be partnering on this, and since - as you mentioned - the stakes are pretty high, we should probably press fast forward on getting to know each other's strengths and weaknesses. I think that will help us support and restrain each other when we're under pressure. Captain Darcy did this exercise in a meeting of the senior staff last year, and it really brought us a lot of clarity. Also a lot of material for mockery, but that was just a fringe benefit.

"The way it works is, you tell me what you think is your biggest weakness, and your biggest strength. Then I tell you what I see as your biggest weakness and biggest strength. That part probably has less value for people who haven't been on the same crew for months or years, but it may offer some insight, at least."


She gestures for Alex to sit down in the chair opposite hers. "Don't worry, I'll go first. But hang on, I need to think for a minute. Last time I did this, I was a pilot, not an acting captain." Cass closes her eyes for a while before taking a deep breath and letting it out in a little huff.

"Okay, I see my greatest weakness as not having enough command experience to make good decisions quickly. I feel like I'm spending a lot of time deliberating, which ends up being more like spinning my wheels. I'm afraid that's eventually going to lead to a catastrophically bad decision that gets people killed.

"I think my greatest strength is being able to react to a changing situation on the fly with creative ideas. That probably comes from my pilot training and experience. I think that came into play during the mutiny attempt on the Four."
She smiles at Alex and gestures toward her with one hand. "Now, it's your turn."
Apr 11, 2019 6:25 am
OOC:
In case we can't find someone else to do it, this Lasers roll is to determine the success of decoding the Four's encrypted communications.

Rolls

Lasers, prepared - (2d6)

(63) = 9

Apr 11, 2019 3:43 pm
marbo makes his way back to his office, typing away with whatever additional notes he can remember from zephyrs surgery.

"Commander. Zlam. what do uou suppose we do about the four? marbo has exhausted a lot of medical supplies on them and feels great concern."
Apr 11, 2019 4:09 pm
"I'm always up for mockery material," Alex says dryly. She folds herself into the suggested chair. Being taller than average, she lounges a bit so as not to seem quite so disproportionate to her surroundings. Whether that's self-consciousness or some sort of diplomatic trick to seem nonthreatening, it's a toss-up.

As Cass finishes speaking, Alex nods. "I've run this exercise before, though not for quite a few years. It's a popular one among the diplomatic corps." She draws a deep breath and begins.

"Weakness. I'm too impulsive. I rely on gut instinct and intuition rather than approaching a problem from multiple angles and considering the options dispassionately. It can be very powerful when I'm right. When I'm not..." she spreads her hands, and shrugs. "I end up at the back end of the galaxy as cannon fodder for parasitic slug pirates. Though after the last few days, I might have to say that my weakness is that I can't hit anything with a phaser to save my life, unless it's set to 'disintegrate', in which case apparently I'm a crack shot."

She shrugs. "Strength? I understand people. I have a good sense of their motivations, when they're not being completely honest, what might put them at ease. Or, often better, what will make them uneasy. Some -- well, more than some -- call it being manipulative. I call it being good at my job."
Apr 11, 2019 4:12 pm
RobbOgden93 says:
marbo makes his way back to his office, typing away with whatever additional notes he can remember from zephyrs surgery.

"Commander. Zlam. what do uou suppose we do about the four? marbo has exhausted a lot of medical supplies on them and feels great concern."
OOC:
I was writing this while 78RPMLife was posting Alex's response. Please take this as happening right before Alex speaks.
Cass looks amazed at the interruption and says to Alex, "One second." Then in answer to the comm, "Marbo, I understand the concern. I'm doing everything I can to avoid any further combat or other cause for injuries. It's possible, though, that we'll end up with some more de-slugged hosts to be saved, though, so I'd advise preparing for that. We'll have a senior staff meeting soon and we can talk more about it. Cassano out."

She closes the link and returns her attention to Alex. "Sorry for the interruption. You were saying?"
Last edited April 11, 2019 4:44 pm
Apr 11, 2019 4:47 pm
Alex shakes her head. "Not a great deal more to say. I spent twenty years climbing the ladder of the diplomatic corps. I was in line for promotion to Commander. I was even hearing rumors that I was on the fast track to Admiral. When you're ambitious and impulsive, that kind of talk engenders some poor decision making."

She folds her hands in her lap. On someone else, the gesture would seem relaxed, but there's just enough tension under the surface that it looks oddly mechanical. Like it's an action she heard would put people at ease, so she's trying it on for size. "I rushed negotiations, relying on my impeccable -- to that point -- intuition and my ability to back my adversaries into a corner until their only option was to accept my way of going forward." She smirks. "Problem-solving by sledgehammer, see? Diplomacy wasn't a give and take and an attempt to find the best way forward for both sides. It was a competition -- a proxy war. I only came out ahead if the other side lost."

Her eyes narrow as she looks across the table at Cass. With a quiet exhalation, not quite a sigh, she says, "You may have heard of the colony at Anavir Gamma?" It's a fairly well-known story in Spacefleet, a Consortium-supported colony on the third moon of the gas giant Anavir, a strategically important mining and resource station on the edge of Consortium-controlled space, that was given over to Naplican control in repayment for some unknown -- but widely speculated on -- insult. "That was me."

"Okay, so there was more to say. But I think it's important you know this. Like I said... I am not that person any more, or I am trying my damndest not to be that person any more. Being at the ass end of the galaxy gives a person plenty of time for soul-searching."
Apr 11, 2019 6:06 pm
Cass listens intently, raising her eyebrows at the Anavir Gamma confession. It's weird, but none of this makes her feel apprehensive about Alex - it's actually welcome background material that explains a lot about the recent behaviors she'd observed. Alex is looking at her strangely and Cass realizes that she's, incongruously, grinning. Darcy would stroke out if she knew I was working with someone who has screwed up a lot worse than I ever have.

Probably not a good thing to say out loud to Alex, though. She dials back the grin to a smile.

"I really appreciate your trusting me with this. I'm proof positive that a person can change how they approach their career, so don't feel like you have to keep convincing me you're not that person anymore. Captain Darcy extended a lot of trust to me that some people think was unwarranted. The least I can do is pay that trust forward, and we've already been in a firefight together, so you've earned it anyway.

"Look, I think we can leverage our strengths and weaknesses to our advantage. I'm way out of my depth here, but you have a wealth of experience for me to draw upon. You're impulsive, but I'm always looking at all the angles. I can provide the analytical perspective, you can tell me when it's time to press play. And I'm juggling so many competing priorities, I'm having trouble trusting my assessments of people and their motivations. I'll be thrilled to have someone beside me who can tell me when I'm missing something crucial."


She leans back and sighs. "Basically, it's a damned good thing for me that you ended up in the ass end of the galaxy right now."
Apr 11, 2019 6:58 pm
Alex runs a hand over one side of her face. "You say that now..." she says with a dry chuckle.

"Commander, I have something to prove to myself. With all due respect, whether or not you're convinced is entirely secondary to proving to myself that I am no longer the woman who signed over an entire moon to an adversarial species. I'm fine being a cautionary tale that parents tell their budding diplomats when they won't eat their vegetables. But I'll be airlocked before I let that define the rest of my life."

She stands up and extends her hand to shake. "In other words, you'll have my best. And that best is damned good."
Apr 11, 2019 7:02 pm
Cass stands and shakes the offered hand. "I'm glad to have it. Welcome to the chaos, Lieutenant Commander."
Apr 11, 2019 7:10 pm
There's a signal at the door that someone wants to enter. After Cass gives permission, the door opens and Darcy steps inside, a datapad in her hand. "I just got the report back from Lt. Namnac. He was unable to decypher the Four's communications." She hesitates for a moment, then she adds: "Namnac is a good officer but inexperienced. Under different circumstances, I would have asked Lt. Comm. Borealis to do it. I haven't talked to him since the operation but if he's willing and able to take a look at these communications, he might be able to spot some patterns that Namnac missed."
Apr 11, 2019 7:27 pm
Cass puts her hands on the desktop and hangs her head, staring at them. Then she looks back up at Darcy and holds out her hand. "Give it to me. I'll see if Borealis feels up to taking a look."

Nodding to Alex to let her know she's dismissed, Cass leaves the ready room and heads back to the temporary medbay. She walks up to Zephyr's bed and sits on the chair beside it.

"Zephyr, I have to ask you something, and I want you to know that it's okay to say no. The Four has been sending encrypted communications that we'd like to read. Lt. Namnac hasn't been able to decipher them. You probably can.

"But reading them might be pretty upsetting to you. Might hinder your recovery. So that's why I'm telling you again that you can say no and neither I or anyone else will hold it against you. Take some time and think it over."
Apr 12, 2019 3:25 pm
"Yes, I think I can manage that. I likely won't be able to do much decoding from here though, I'd have to return to my station. At least momentarily."

Without waiting for any type of response from Cass, Zephyr stands up and begins to spruce himself up a bit. Can't be seen unkempt on the bridge.

"I will at minimum attempt to decrypt the message. If it seems to be bothering me, I can pass on what I've learned to Lt. Namnac to finish things up."

With that, begins to leave the room and head for the bridge.
Apr 12, 2019 3:43 pm
Cass gets to her feet, gaping and looking around for Marbo or another doctor. Seeing none at the moment, Cass grabs Zephyr's arm. "Wait, hold on. You can't just go back to work. You just had major surgery and a severe trauma. You haven't been released from sickbay, much less cleared for active duty.

"Here, come sit back down. We'll talk to Marbo about bringing you a terminal to work on from bed."
She hits her comm badge. "Cassano to Dr. Zlam. Could you come to Lt. Comm. Borealis' bed, please? We have a proposition."
Apr 12, 2019 3:49 pm
Zephyr is about to protest, but thinks better of it. The Commander is probably right. It's driving him mad just laying in bed though.

"You're right of course."

He sits back down, a look of slight disappointment on his face.
Apr 12, 2019 3:57 pm
Cass sits back down, too. "Of course I am. Marbo will be here any second and we'll get this all worked out."
Apr 12, 2019 4:07 pm
Moira hops into the medbay.

Ah've been lookin fer yeh, Commander! Ah've got tha safety protocols done!

She freezes, then lets out a long sigh.

Ah, Zephyr. Nice ta see yer back.
Apr 12, 2019 4:33 pm
Marbo arrives in the medbay shortly after Cass says his name.

"Commander. Lt Commander. Moira. Belka. Interns Bones and Pulaski. Zlam." He states as he walks in. The introduction is longwinded, but genuine and friendly.

"Medical diagnosis have been run, Lt. Comm. Borealis is showing good recovery rates. Could work from here with the commanders permission. Marbo is not allowed to return people to any duty, no matter how light," he says, shooting a glance towards belka and Cassano."but that is okay, Much too busy. Still unsure what put the captain into his comatose state."


"How can Marbo assist?" he finally asks, realizing he had sort of drummed in straight to his own points without seeing what the crew needed.
Apr 12, 2019 4:50 pm
Cass is taken aback by the sudden appearance of Moira, her report on safety protocols that Cass doesn't remember anything about, and Marbo's soliloquy. But this day has been nothing but unexpected events and she's starting to get accustomed to them, so she recovers quickly.

"I'm sorry - I'd forgotten that Dr. Belka hasn't cleared you beyond light duty yourself yet," she tells Marbo. "As for Zephyr, we have some encrypted communications we'd like him to decode." She hands the datapad to Zephyr. From where Marbo is standing, he can also see the data. "I'll have a full terminal brought in for you to use, but here's the file in the meantime."

Cass comms the appropriate department to order a terminal installed for Zephyr's use in the temporary medbay.
Apr 12, 2019 5:31 pm
Cass gets up and turns to Moira. "Remind me what security protocols you're talking about. And where are we on the math for restoring the biofiltered slug people? I know I said in the meeting that I don't intend to rematerialize them on the Potential, but Spacefleet is greenlighting trading them for our people who've been captured or taken as hosts, so we're going to have to be able to provide them in some form."
Apr 12, 2019 5:36 pm
Ah! Right, Commander.

Moira shakes her head and frantically taps on her datapad.

Consumable GPS tracker ta make sure we can always transport tha away team back, even if they get caught. An' a remote control link ta tha transporter in case they see somethin' go south. They don't have ta wait fer us ta process tha order. As fer tha biofilters.....

Her voice trails off and she clicks away.

Rolls

Lasers - Un-Filter tha Slugs on mah own ship - (3d6)

(266) = 14

Apr 12, 2019 6:31 pm
Zephyr cheers up a bit when RC and Marbo enter the room, "Ah good to see you all!"

He takes the datapad in hand and begins to look it over. "Let's see, without the cryptovariable we'll have to..." and he punches a few buttons. "Now, assuming this requires an asymmetric key algorithm, this could be a little tricky. We'll have to obtain some derivations of key leakage from the nonce reuse. Then we just zoom, and enhance...and boom!"
Last edited April 12, 2019 6:32 pm

Rolls

1337 haxorz by lasers, expert, and help? - (1d6, 1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (2) = 2

1d6 : (5) = 5

1d6 : (6) = 6

Apr 12, 2019 9:54 pm
Moira, you've looked over the biofilters briefly but not too much yet. The computer keeps track of everything so the parasites' biosignatures still have to be in there. The difficult part will be to extract all of them and nothing else. You feel like you should be able to rematerialize the parasites but you can't guarantee that it'll be successful. And you will only have one shot at it.
If you had some DNA samples or bioscan results of the affected parasites from before they got filtered out, that might increase your chances of success.

Zephyr, whichever kind of encoding system the slugs are using, you are unfamiliar with it. The task gets even harder since you do not have much experience with their language and especially not with past codes they have used before, which would be a valuable resource in understanding this one.
You are able to grasp some basic information from the communications. They seem to be reporting about the attempts at diplomacy with the Potential and about the prisoner exchange that has been proposed. The Four is telling whoever they were messaging to hold off with "merging the prisoner" and not to further disassemble the robot while these negotiations are ongoing. There is also repeated mention of what you assume is the name of one parasite. You are unable to determine any further information than this from the intercepted messages.
Apr 12, 2019 11:36 pm
Moira relays her information.

Marbo, yeh got any more slug juice? Or maybe, do yeh think there’d be any biological residue in tha.....

She’s about to say "poor lad who had ‘is hands ripped off an’ tried ta murder Cass," but she sees Zephyr and thinks better of it.

Tha "specimen box?"

*cough cough* casket! *cough cough*
Last edited April 12, 2019 11:36 pm
Apr 13, 2019 4:40 am
lavtodd says:
Moira relays her information.

Marbo, yeh got any more slug juice? Or maybe, do yeh think there’d be any biological residue in tha.....

She’s about to say "poor lad who had ‘is hands ripped off an’ tried ta murder Cass," but she sees Zephyr and thinks better of it.

Tha "specimen box?"

*cough cough* casket! *cough cough*
"Well, even if we don't have anything left of the slug you're trying not to mention," she says, smiling lopsidedly at her engineer, "I have a feeling the Four might have some samples, or could get them pretty easily. If they're testing humanoids for genetic compatibility with specific slugs, they have to be testing against something. I'll contact their captain and see."
bowlofspinach says:
Zephyr, whichever kind of encoding system the slugs are using, you are unfamiliar with it. The task gets even harder since you do not have much experience with their language and especially not with past codes they have used before, which would be a valuable resource in understanding this one.

You are able to grasp some basic information from the communications. They seem to be reporting about the attempts at diplomacy with the Potential and about the prisoner exchange that has been proposed. The Four is telling whoever they were messaging to hold off with "merging the prisoner" and not to further disassemble the robot while these negotiations are ongoing. There is also repeated mention of what you assume is the name of one parasite. You are unable to determine any further information than this from the intercepted messages.
Cass listens to Zephyr's slightly disappointing but not entirely fruitless report. "At least it sounds like they haven't turned Lt. Felt into a host yet. M1-K3 might be in a bit of trouble, especially if they return him partially disassembled, but it's not like we don't have his specs and maps and whatnot on file." She pretends not to notice the look that passes between Moira and Zephyr as her lack of technical competence is made obvious once again.

She's about to take her leave to go back to the bridge to hail the Four and talk terms of prisoner exchange with the captain when the full impact of what she's proposing really hits her. She's going to try to bring these bastards back to life. Spacefleet is ordering her to bring them back. To reconstitute the slug who'd tried to eat his way into her body, and who had actually succeeded in doing that to Marbo.

This is too much for Spacefleet to ask of her, too much to expect her to ask of her crew - especially of Marbo and Zephyr.

Realizing that she's standing motionless and staring into the middle distance while the the rest of them watch her with wary expressions, Cass puts the mask of command firmly back in place, says "Carry on," and leaves the temporary medbay.
Last edited April 13, 2019 5:37 am
Apr 13, 2019 5:22 pm
OOC:
Sorry for back-to-back posting, but it occurs to me that there might not be a way forward if I don't get this particular ball rolling.
On her way to the bridge, Cass comms Alex and requests her presence on the bridge. When she steps off the turbolift, she tells Darcy, "When Lt. Comm. Lloyd arrives on the bridge, hail the captain of the Four. I need to have a talk with him."
Apr 13, 2019 8:49 pm
Alex arrives at the bridge promptly. It can’t have been more than a few moments between receiving the message and making her way here.

"Commander," she says and stands ready nearby to await instructions.
Apr 13, 2019 8:59 pm
As instructed, Darcy turns towards her console immediately when Alex arrives on the bridge. She starts typing for a few seconds, then lifts her head and looks at Alex. She doesn't say anything but something in her expression gives Alex the feeling that Darcy has done some research on her and knows about her diplomatic history.
After another few seconds, Darcy's terminal gives off a short signal and she says: "Channel open. I'm putting the captain on screen."

Immediately after, the viewscreen changes to show the familiar sight of the captain sitting at the same table as during your last communications. He is letting you speak first.
Apr 13, 2019 11:18 pm
Cass nods at Alex. "I'm about to give him a good news, bad news scenario. Feel free to step in if I'm mucking it up."

She turns to the screen when the captain appears. With a nod and a small smile, she says, "Captain, good to see you. Thank you for letting down the shields earlier. I take it you've had no further issues with dissenting crew members."
Apr 13, 2019 11:26 pm
"It is good to see you too, commander. The situation is back under control, thank you." The captain's expression is very neutral and hard to read. "You have been communicating with your superiors. Are there any news?"
Apr 13, 2019 11:55 pm
"Yes," she says, keeping her own poker face. "I've been authorized to continue negotiating with your people for the release of Consortium prisoners in exchange for your people who have been caught in our biofilters. My superiors, however, believe that for the number of your people you're asking us to return, we should be receiving more Consortium people. Perhaps you could tell me how many hosts you have who are within the window of non-permanence currently?"
Apr 14, 2019 12:11 am
He does not reply right away, instead taking some time to think about his answer.
"Commander, there seems to be a slight misunderstanding here. We are willing to consider alternatives to our current method of living within host bodies. We are even willing to decrease new merges to the absolute minimum necessary during our negotiations. We are, however, not willing to remove more of our people from host bodies that they are already inhabiting. We agreed to this once in the case of your crewmate, as a sign of our good faith. It is not going to happen again."
He reaches for a datapad that had been lying just outside of the frame of this video conversation and looks at it for a moment. "I do not have the exact number of unbonded hosts, unfortunately, but according to previous numbers, we should be able to gather enough humanoid prisoners for a one to one exchange. Thirteen of your people against the thirteen of ours that you have killed with your transporters."
Apr 14, 2019 1:24 am
Cass maintains an icy little smile. "Captain, let's please be accurate in our semantics. If your people can be returned to you alive, we haven't killed them. Whereas the Consortium captives you have forced into being hosts can certainly be said to have been killed. Not that I'm turning down the offer. I just want us to be comparing apples to apples."

She adjusts herself in the captain's chair minutely, just enough to push her left shoulder slightly toward Alex, hoping to signal that she's open to any input the diplomat may want to offer, either on the communication or privately.
Last edited April 14, 2019 1:28 am
Apr 14, 2019 4:03 am
Alex makes a small gesture to the commander, requesting a private word. When Cass makes her excuse to the captain of the Four and mutes communications, Alex approaches and says, "My inclination would be to correct the semantics in your reply. Give the correct phrasing -- emphasize it even, if it's an important distinction -- but pointing out differences in semantics makes them the point of negotiation, rather than what you actually want to discuss. You're absolutely right that we haven't killed any of their people if we can return them alive, but..."

She tilts her head with a sudden thought. "This might be completely impossible, but... would there be a way to restore our people that have become hosts in a similar fashion to how we're restoring the parasites?"
Apr 14, 2019 5:29 am
Cass stares at Alex for a moment. "You mean... why don't we restore the people who've been taken as hosts from transporter patterns and essentially create clones of them?" When Alex hesitates, Cass clears her throat and says, "I mean, of course you're aware of the ethical regulations that govern the use of transporter patterns and... You know what? Never mind. You're right about the semantics thing. Good note. Thanks. I'll move on."

She gives Alex one last glance, looking a little concerned, and gestures to Darcy to restore the connection. "Captain, we accept the terms you've proposed. Let's move on to discuss the technical details. My chief engineer has been working from the calculations yours sent us, and her results indicate that the restoration of your people is indeed possible, but very tricky. She believes that only one attempt will be possible, and that it might not result in complete success."
Last edited April 14, 2019 5:53 am
Apr 14, 2019 7:12 am
The captain ignores the debate about semantics. When Cass states the difficulty of restoring the slugs, he takes a deep breath. "Failure is not an option. If there is any way we can help the process, let us know."
Apr 14, 2019 7:32 am
"There is one thing that would increase the chance of success - DNA of the people we're trying to restore. Would you be able to provide that?"
Apr 14, 2019 7:49 am
The captain takes another look at his datapad before responding. "We don't have actual DNA samples from most of them but we have digital data of all our scans and analyses. If those can help your chances, I can have them sent over to your ship. Is there anything else you need?" His tone indicates that he going to stop speaking and allow you to reply but then another thought crosses his mind and he speaks up again: "And how and where do you want to make the exchange? My offer to take you to our home base still stands."
Apr 14, 2019 9:59 am
Cass isn't ready to commit to any plan for the exchange yet. She's acutely aware that Adm. Hao failed to give instructions regarding the invitation to the parasites' home base. Taking her scout ship alone deep into enemy territory with a comatose captain and so many injured is high on the list of things Cass doesn't want to do.

"First things first, captain. Please do send the bioscan data of your missing people. And if your engineer has any other suggestions or data that might be helpful, we'd welcome the input. Cassano out."

When the connection is broken, she tells Darcy, " Naturally, anything they send should be quarantined and thoroughly scanned for viruses and other contaminations before we do anything with it. "
Last edited April 14, 2019 9:11 pm
Apr 14, 2019 10:10 am
Darcy confirms. Then she asks: "Commander, about Lt. Comm. Lloyd and Dr. Lorq. We have been involving them in discussions that should be classified even though they are not members of our crew. If you - and they - want, I can request to have them temporarily be assigned to our ship. Otherwise, I have to request that they be kept out of confidential meetings from now on. I have compiled dossiers on both of them so give you an overview of their spacefleet history." She glances at Alex. "I strongly encourage you to read them before making your choice."
Apr 14, 2019 3:33 pm
Alex tilts her head, looking back at Darcy with one eyebrow raised. "By all means," replies Alex. "All crew members’ Spacefleet histories should be available to the commanding officer. I am happy to comply. In fact, I’ll send the Commander my entire service record myself. I have nothing to hide."

Was that a slight emphasis on that last ‘I’? Could be.
Apr 14, 2019 3:44 pm
Darcy keeps her eyes on Alex for a few more seconds. When her terminal makes a short noise, she shrugs and looks down at it. "Commander, we have received the data from the Four. It's a bit more than I expected but the computer does not detect any malware. I will send them on to Lt. Comm. Bruce."
OOC:
When Cass looks at Darcy's dossiers, she won't find anything unexpected. What Darcy apparently wanted her to know about is the matter with Anavir Gamma that Alex already told her about
Apr 14, 2019 5:52 pm
Moira gets a "ping" on her datapad, and goes to the nearest terminal to review the data. She wants Marbo's two cents on this.

Oi, Doctor, what do yeh think?
OOC:
Rolling Lasers, Prepared, not Expert to see what I find out.

Rolls

Lasers - Sluggy Schematics - (2d6)

(62) = 8

Apr 14, 2019 6:01 pm
Moira, as you look over the data, you quickly notice that it is much more detailed than any test the Consortium would do. A lot of it focuses on neural network and brainwave patterns but all the information you need is in there. This should definitely help with making the slug restoration far more reliable.
OOC:
Marbo can still give me a roll for this when he's active to see if he spots anything interesting about the data
Apr 14, 2019 6:50 pm
Cass calls both Alex and Darcy into the ready room, giving Mezron the conn for a few minutes. She leans against the desk and looks at them both. "First of all, Darcy, good work. You're doing exactly what you're supposed to do, which is to make sure I have the information I need to make good, informed decisions. For the record, I should have listened to your advice about Kendall from the start. So keep doing what you're doing.

"But in this case, Lt. Comm. Lloyd has already told me about Anavir Gamma. I understand your reservations, but you and I both know that if this situation can be said to have a theme, it's probably something to do with the capacity for people to change. Me, you, maybe the parasites. I don't see a good reason for us to leave a highly trained and accomplished diplomat on the sidelines just because she has some heavy baggage, do you?"
Apr 14, 2019 7:06 pm
"It's your choice, commander. I just wanted to make sure you have all the information. If you decide to have the Lieutenant Commander join our crew for the moment, I'm fine with that. Even with her history, she's probably the best suited person on board for our current job." Darcy turns to Alex. "I appreciate that you chose to inform the commander of this yourself."

After saying this, Darcy turns back to Cass. "One more thing: The captain of the Four has sent us another message, requesting clarification on how we want to do the exchange. He also informed us that a second parasite ship will be arriving in this system shortly, carrying supplies. He did not ask our opinion on this or specify what kind. Our sensors have picked up a ship coming from where we suspect their home base to be. At its current speed, it will be here in just over three hours."
Apr 14, 2019 7:13 pm
Alex nods to Darcy. "There’s little point in hiding my past. It’s easily revealed by a search of Spacefleet records, as you’ve seen."

She turns to Cass. "We should ask for clarification on this second ship. We should also strongly request that we set out ground rules for our engagement so that these issues don’t continue to crop up. And it represents something tangible can hold one another accountable for."
Apr 14, 2019 7:29 pm
Cass folds her arms and sighs heavily. "Yeah, it's clear they're just going to keep pushing the boundaries as far as they can. We need to clarify where we see those boundaries and what the consequences will be for violating them."

She thinks for a while, then says, "Go ahead and have Alex and Dr. Lorq assigned to the Potential as senior staff temporarily and give them all the standard privileges that come with that. And send a message to the Four stating that if a second ship is on its way to this space, then we will suspend work on the restoration process until a second Spacefleet ship can arrive here, just to ensure that we remain on an equal footing in the negotiations. Inform them, too, that we will be in touch with our clarifications on how we wish to conduct the exchange when we are more confident that our safety and autonomy is being respected."
Apr 14, 2019 7:42 pm
"Understood. Lieutenant Commander, I will inform you once I know which quarters you will be staying at. There is some chaos about living situations right now due to the damage to the saucer section but I have been told it will be resolved shortly. Commander, I will let you know when the captain responds. I will also request that another Consortium ship be sent here right away."
Apr 15, 2019 12:25 am
OOC:
In the interest of moving things forward and providing a little more for people to sink their teeth into, I'm having Cass convene a meeting of the senior staff. I'm told that Zephyr is physically okay to resume at least light duty, so he can certainly be in this meeting, if kona wants him to be there.
Cass waits for everyone to be seated, then begins without preamble. "Okay, here's the situation: the Four has sent us bioscans and a bunch of other data that should greatly increase the chances of our successfully restoring the parasites caught in the biofilter. But because the parasites have unilaterally sent a second ship here, ostensibly on their way to deliver "supplies" to the Four, I have told the parasite captain that we're suspending work on the restoration project until a second Spacefleet ship arrives to even the odds. Darcy has communicated that to Spacefleet and another ship is on the way.

"The captain of the Four is pressuring me to commit to a location and method of exchanging our prisoners for theirs. He keeps saying that he wants to take us to their home base. I have obvious issues with that plan, so I'd really like it if we could propose something else. And while we're at it, we need to discuss how to safely deal with restoring the biofiltered parasites. Once they're restored, how do we provide for their needs without exposing our crew to unnecessary risks?

"Beyond the restoration and prisoner exchange, there are other projects I'd like status reports on. I know that we've been working on a method for disabling the parasite without disabling the host, at least for hosts who are recent enough to still have brain function. Where are we on that?

"And I've heard that we're also looking at a method of making our bodies inhospitable to the parasites, which would effectively innoculate us from being viable hosts. Does anyone have a status report on that?

"Any discussion of these or other relevant topics or projects is welcome. The floor is open."
Last edited April 15, 2019 12:30 am
Apr 15, 2019 12:53 am
Lorq clears his throat and stands.
First of all captain thank you making me part of your crew. everyone has made me feel welcome, they are a credit to you.
I have done a lot of research both on and for the parasites. Previously we looked to see if anything made a person more attractive as a host. Nothing much was found, other than general good health. I am now wondering if I may have went about this the wrong way


He looks down at his notes, quaintly on a paper notepad not electronic.

Maybe by looking at the people who were rejected as hosts I could find a commonality. Maybe something insignificant like a certain enzyme or the like.
If this is the case, it could be the basis of a vaccine.
Maybe Dr. Belka and I could work on this...I would like to help any way I could.


He checks his notes again and looks a little embarrassed.

This is not my area of expertise, so please forgive me if this is a dumb idea...but could any crew member who goes to their ship have some kind of personal transporter set to automatically transport them in place every 30 minutes? That way, if we are double crossed the slugs could not get a hold on us.
Apr 15, 2019 5:01 am
Alex nods as Lorq speaks, smiling just a little. Fondly, maybe. As he finishes speaking, Alex cuts in. "For our own protection, that's an interesting idea, if possible. However, if it does come to fruition, I think it's vital that our counterparts are aware we have that capability. They have already made it clear they consider removal of their people via transporter akin to murder. Imagine how we would feel if our situations were reversed."

She takes a slow breath, and sighs. "But either way, it's a delicate subject. It's coming right out and saying that we fully expect to be betrayed and we've taken precautions against it. It's not a very effective way to build trust."
Apr 15, 2019 5:22 am
The only way they would ever know about the transporters would be if they took someone over without permission. If you meant the vaccination, then I assume it would show up in testing. We would not have to mention it unless it looks like we were going to be co-opted.
Apr 15, 2019 5:34 am
Darcy speaks up. "Even if it only transports us in place, it's still going to be noticeable. I like the idea of vaccinating ourselves against being taken over if that is feasible. We have received a reply from the captain, by the way. He 'apologizes for not asking first and promises to do so next time'. He also said he is willing to wait until another Consortium ship arrives and he would be happy to give us a list of what their supply ship is bringing in but it would have to be over comm, not message." She pauses. "That part seems fishy to me. I don't see why they couldn't just send us an inventory list."
Apr 15, 2019 5:57 am
Maybe they are afraid to link computers. They may think we would try to slip in a virus. Maybe they have studied us enough to get non verbal clues. Or maybe they are using the communications as a dinner menu of sort.
That is the problem with first contacts.
Last edited April 15, 2019 6:05 am
Apr 15, 2019 6:06 am
OOC:
roll for vaccine as discussed. This will happen after the meeting breaks up, in case I am AFK for a long time unexpectedly.

Rolls

Looking for vaccine. Expert prepared help. - (4D6)

(6362) = 17

Apr 15, 2019 6:07 am
78RPMLife says:
Alex nods as Lorq speaks, smiling just a little. Fondly, maybe. As he finishes speaking, Alex cuts in. "For our own protection, that's an interesting idea, if possible. However, if it does come to fruition, I think it's vital that our counterparts are aware we have that capability. They have already made it clear they consider removal of their people via transporter akin to murder. Imagine how we would feel if our situations were reversed."

She takes a slow breath, and sighs. "But either way, it's a delicate subject. It's coming right out and saying that we fully expect to be betrayed and we've taken precautions against it. It's not a very effective way to build trust."
Cass drums her fingertips on the conference table. "But that's the problem we're up against, isn't it? That both sides are up against. We have a duty to ourselves, to the people on our own side, and we are afraid that if we trust the other side, we'll end up betraying our friends. How do we get past that? Doesn't it take a leap of faith? How do we justify taking that leap?"
Apr 15, 2019 6:22 am
The 9th Rule of Acquisition states that opportunity plus instinct equals profit. I think if we trust our instincts and mistrust the slugs...we can get out of this alive. Which will be profit enough in this case.
Apr 15, 2019 6:29 am
"I know the parasites are have betrayed and attacked us before", Darcy says. "but realistically, what would they have to gain from taking over one of our people as long as we still have the Potential? They know that we are going to beam back any crewmembers that go somewhere to get in contact with them and not let them take a shuttle. They would just die before they could accomplish anything, even if we did not suspect a thing"
Apr 15, 2019 6:44 am
bowlofspinach says:
Darcy speaks up. "Even if it only transports us in place, it's still going to be noticeable. I like the idea of vaccinating ourselves against being taken over if that is feasible. We have received a reply from the captain, by the way. He 'apologizes for not asking first and promises to do so next time'. He also said he is willing to wait until another Consortium ship arrives and he would be happy to give us a list of what their supply ship is bringing in but it would have to be over comm, not message." She pauses. "That part seems fishy to me. I don't see why they couldn't just send us an inventory list."
Frowning, Cass says, "They don't want what they say to be in writing. But what does that gain them? Anything they say over a comm we could transmit just as easily as a written inventory. Unless it's not us they're concerned about transmitting it, but someone on their side." She shakes her head. "No, that doesn't work, either. It's one of their own ships bringing the 'supplies' in the first place."
Apr 15, 2019 12:01 pm
Ah mean, they don't trust us either. Any word on tha Consortium ship they're sendin' ta help us?
Apr 15, 2019 12:33 pm
"It's on its way. It's going to be a small ship, even smaller than the Potential, but armed and equipped with shields. Spacefleet is gathering a small fleet but this is what they could dispatch on this short notice. It should be here less than an hour after the parasites' supply ship.", Darcy explains. "Apparently, it will also carry further instructions from Admiral Hao"
Apr 15, 2019 2:07 pm
Alex spreads her hands. "All I am saying is that taking the high road and putting our proverbial cards on the table when possible makes it a hell of a lot easier later to say that we made a good faith effort if they do betray us. And who knows? Maybe it opens up some new avenues for negotiation if it looks like we trust them."
Apr 15, 2019 2:38 pm
Whiles the crew has their meeting to establish an ROE for the slugs, Marbo is hunkered away in the labs, studying whatever slug samples he has availalbe, as well as any security footage from our ship of the slugs, as well as his notes on zephyrs slugification.

Using all the collected data, he performs a variety of expiriments to see if he can develop some kind of slug-suppressant.




After hes got a sufficient start, he will head to the meeting with the other senior staff, walking in slightly late, looking sheepish and pointing to his datapad, as if to say "I forgot we had a meeting, and got very involved in my project".

He finds the nearest seat and waits for a moment to chime in with his questions.
Last edited April 15, 2019 2:54 pm

Rolls

"Aint no Slug-shine when shes gone."(expert and prepared) - (3d6)

(566) = 17

Apr 15, 2019 2:41 pm
OOC:
Why isn't Marbo in the senior staff meeting? He's chief medical officer.
Apr 15, 2019 2:51 pm
Moonbeam says:
OOC:
Why isn't Marbo in the senior staff meeting? He's chief medical officer.
OOC:
I suppose he could be, i hadnt made a post i na while and intended to post about his plans to come up with a slug solution but forgot to actually post it over the weekend. Ill strikeout the last post and edit it.
Apr 15, 2019 3:03 pm
Marbo, you were not successful in finding anything you could use to stun or disable the slugs that would not also harm the host. You have the information from your LF, however.
You can also try to have someone else (Lorq, possibly) look over the data with you and help you so you can get a help die and possibly still partially succeed.
Apr 15, 2019 4:10 pm
"Okay, I think the continual transporter idea is interesting, but probably not practical. I agree with Alex that if we were to implement it, we'd need to make it clear up front that we were doing it.

"The vaccination is where we should be concentrating more effort, I think. That would give the parasites an urgent reason to negotiate in good faith. If we could vaccinate humanoids against becoming hosts, that dries up the slavery market and decreases their race's likelihood of survival."
Apr 15, 2019 4:15 pm
"It might make them more likely to negotiate in good faith", Darcy interjects. "It might also make them more likely to just shoot us down if they think that can stop this vaccine. If we tell them about it, it has to be after the vaccine is developed and we have sent the formula to spacefleet."
Apr 15, 2019 4:18 pm
Cass looks at Darcy in amusement. "Yes, that's the plan. I certainly wasn't planning to call up the captain of the Four and brag about this cool idea we've been tossing around. I'm just trying to establish the research priorities. This vaccine should be the top of the list."
Apr 15, 2019 4:19 pm
Alex turns to Darcy and gives her a wintry sort of smile. "Now you understand where I'm headed with all of this. Develop it. Develop it all. And then dole out this knowledge bit by bit, acting gracious and open, providing it in the interest of sharing. The tiny voice at the back of my head that tells me to be optimistic wants to believe that we can find a common solution beneficial to both parties. The louder voice in my head says fine, but don't expect it to happen."

She smiles wryly. "And before anybody asks, the voices in my head are a metaphor, thank you."
Last edited April 15, 2019 4:19 pm
Apr 15, 2019 4:19 pm
Moira nods in agreement.

As fer tha retrieval, do yeh happen ta have any access ta any files that may help? Ah'm reachin' tha end of mah resources.
Apr 15, 2019 4:21 pm
OOC:
Lavtodd, we received a ton of data from the Four and sent it all to Moira. She should have plenty of bioscan and other data to make the reconstitution of the slugs successful.
Apr 15, 2019 5:45 pm
Lorq looks concerned and speaks again.
I had a disturbing thought. These parasites have been taking over beings for a long time, and gaining their knowledge. I think it is very likely they have taken transporter engineers. Could they be trying to engineer a way to bypass the biofilters? Maybe we should have our people trying to find a way around it, and if they do...fix that work around.

Lorq is aware that he has spoken more at this meeting than he has in days, but the respect they have shown him has emboldened him.

I have one more thing to add. I would like to propose a hypothetical situation. I am going to use Humans, but it would be the same for any of us.

Let's say that you had a child and were told that she would live a short life with no real sensory input. Then a doctor tells you that if you killed an adult, he could put your child's mind in that body and she would lead a full life.
Some would agree, but most probably would not. Now if the same doctor said you could us an orangutan and you child would have speech and human intellect. Many more would say yes. Now all babies are being born that way. There would be protests, but many would do it and in a generation it would be the norm.
The intial people would say...it's a monkey, we are superior they are animals.

My point is, to do what the parasites do, you almost have to think yourself superior and the hosts as animals. That attitude could come up in negotiations


He realizes everyone is staring.

Feel free to check with a sociologist or xenobiologist. I may be completely wrong.
Apr 15, 2019 5:54 pm
OOC:
Ah, I am a fool. Thanks, Moon.
Moira is impressed by the doctor's insights.

So, yer sayin, they may not think they're negotiatin' with us at all. They may think they're givin' tha dog an extra helpin'.
Apr 15, 2019 6:11 pm
Or holding the ball behind their back while they make throwing motions with the other hand.
Apr 15, 2019 8:31 pm
"I'd really like us to come up with one or two proposals for how to exchange the restored parasites. If we can offer something that doesn't involve us going to the home base of the parasites, that's going to be my preference. Any ideas?

"And I still haven't heard any suggestions for how we restore and care for these parasites in a way that doesn't risk any of our people. I'd like to hear some proposals on that."
Apr 15, 2019 8:50 pm
There’re some options fer restorin’ tha slugs. Mostly based on neural networks. Ah’m not sure what tha success rate would be though. What if.....

She pauses, choosing her words carefully.

What if we docked ta each other? Then their ship becomes part of our footprint, an’ we can un-transport tha slugs ta them. Put a thick biofilter between tha ports. Talk ta them in person, without needin’ tha distrust-y mechanics.
Apr 15, 2019 8:53 pm
"That might work. They will need to have our people on their ship ready to transport over, I guess, but that method might be feasible. And it eliminates the risk of the slugs trying to jump into one of our people before we can exchange them."
Apr 15, 2019 11:35 pm
OOC:
If anyone has anything else they want to discuss or any additional comments, please go ahead. In a couple of hours, I'll skip on to hailing the captain of the Four.
Apr 16, 2019 2:30 am
"Okay, let's summarize. We're going to prioritizing the development of a vaccine to make humanoids toxic hosts to the parasites. We have a potential project in terms of developing a device that would automatically transport someone in place at regular intervals. We already developed an ingestible locator beacon that would make the user easily located for transporting.

"We've agreed that we develop these things and then, once they've been documented to Spacefleet, we inform the parasites that we have them. This way, we maintain an appearance of good faith while providing an incentive to them to either negotiate in good faith or leave us alone.

"We've discussed the possibility that the parasites know quite a lot about our transporter technology from having taken Spacefleet engineers as hosts, and proposed making some upgrades and changes to the technology to diminish the effectiveness of the knowledge they already have. I'd like this to be as much of a priority as the vaccine development.

"And we've had a good proposal of a method of exchanging our prisoners for theirs without exposing our crew to possible attack by the restored slugs before we hand them over - and without venturing into the home territory of the parasites. Moira suggests we dock against the Four. We place the reconstitution tech in the space that bridges the ships, raise a biofilter between us to ensure security, and then reconstitute them on their side. That way, our personnel are never exposed to the slugs."
OOC:
If I'm not explaining this correctly, someone correct me.
Cass looks around the room. "If there are no further comments, let's adjourn so that everyone can begin working on these projects. Moira, doctors - feel free to consult Lt. Comm. Borealis on any of these projects. He's cleared to do light duty and would obviously be a big help. Dismissed." As the meeting breaks up, Cass says, "Darcy, open a comm channel to the captain of the Four. I want to hear all the news that wasn't fit to print."
Last edited April 16, 2019 2:31 am
Apr 16, 2019 5:04 am
Everyone returns to their work places to set up what has been planned. Moira, you can give me a Lasers roll to see how much you're able to change up the systems that the slugs might want to manipulate without impeding their functionality. Lorq, you can go with Marbo and look over his notes and roll one Lasers for Help. If you succeed with it, you might be able to develop some sort of vaccine after all.

Cass (and Alex, I assume), you're back on the bridge. Darcy is opening a channel to the Four and after a few seconds, informs you that the connection has been made. The viewscreen in front of you lights up and shows the captain of the Four in his usual position. "Ah, it's good to talk to you again, commander. There is something we need to discuss. I did not think it would have been a good idea to just send it over in writing. First of all, my apologies for not asking for your permission to bring in these supplies but that decision was made by the queen herself. As for the supply list. We are bringing in some new crewmembers to replace those lost in the mutiny. There's also going to be some technical equipment and children's bodies for our crewmembers once you restore them. Since we don't know when and where we are going to do the exchange, it seemed reasonable to be prepared." He pauses for a moment. You can tell by his behavior that he already knows that you will not like the next thing he has to say. "We're also bringing in one humanoid host body. We will keep all of the restored people in children's bodies for the time being but for one of them, the queen does not allow this. I know you will disapprove but my hands are tied here. If there is any reasonable concession I can make to work out this issue, please let me know."
Apr 16, 2019 5:11 am
OOC:
help roll as requested

Rolls

"It never hurts to help"...Eek The Cat - (1D6)

(1) = 1

Apr 16, 2019 5:13 am
He's right, Cass doesn't like the idea of them bringing in a humanoid host for one of the parasites that will be restored, but it's gratifying that her opinion seems to matter to him at least a little. It suggests that she does have at least some leverage. "Who have you chosen as the host? Anyone I would know?"
Apr 16, 2019 5:20 am
Lorq, Marbo, you go into the lab together and Lorq looks over the massive amounts of data sent over by the parasites as well as the attempts at formulating a vaccine that Marbo has already done before the meeting. He hadn't been able to get it to work but Lorq sees some small areas for improvement and the two spend an hour or two working out the best possible vaccine they can come up with.
Unfortunately, what you manage to come up with does not work as you had wished it would. You can basically flood your bodies with poison that is mostly harmless to most humanoids. The toxins will stay in your body for a day and if a slug enters the body of someone infected by these toxins, it should get poisoned and die before being able to link up to the host's nervous system. However, these toxins are not completely harmless to the humanoid hosts. There are a lot of side effects that can occur to the hosts, especially if taking them multiple days in a row. Those go from light nausea which can conceivably already occur during the first time using it all the way to death if the toxins are ingested too often in a row
Apr 16, 2019 5:25 am
Moonbeam says:
He's right, Cass doesn't like the idea of them bringing in a humanoid host for one of the parasites that will be restored, but it's gratifying that her opinion seems to matter to him at least a little. It suggests that she does have at least some leverage. "Who have you chosen as the host? Anyone I would know?"
"None of your crewmembers, commander. A scientist we captured on another ship. I do not know her name but if you want, I can find out and let you know."
Apr 16, 2019 5:36 am
A flipping feeling in the pit of her stomach tells Cass that she really doesn't want to know the scientist's name right now. She moves on. "May I ask what's different about the person you're bringing the host for?"
Apr 16, 2019 5:36 am
A flipping feeling in the pit of her stomach tells Cass that she really doesn't want to know the scientist's name right now. She moves on. "May I ask what's different about the person you're bringing the host for?"
Apr 16, 2019 5:39 am
Well Marbo, I don't think this is optimal. Maybe if we bring in another set of eyes, maybe a xenobiologist. So far, we are just killing them more slowly.
Apr 16, 2019 5:40 am
Cass:

The captain seems to notice your discomfort with this but does not comment on it. "She is Second Generation, a direct offspring of the queen. That might not mean much to you but it does to our people."
Apr 16, 2019 6:09 am
Cass gives a little shrug. "I think I can understand. Lineage was once very important in my culture, as well." She pauses. Now she's the one with unwelcome news to deliver.

"Captain, I've discussed the prospect of the exchange with my senior staff. I'm afraid we're not comfortable, at this point in time, with accompanying you to your home base. We have, however, come up with a method of conducting the exchange that respects the needs and safety of both parties." She explains Moira's suggestion of docking the ships together and allowing the symbiotes' reconstitution to take place directly on the Four.
Apr 16, 2019 6:18 am
"That is unfortunate", the captain responds. "but given your initial experiences with our people, understandable. If we want to find a permanent agreement between our races, this step has to be taken eventually. But maybe not today and maybe not by you." After listening to your proposal, he say: "That seems reasonable. If you could have your chief engineer send over the details of this procedure before we initiate it, I would appreciate that very much. If you wish to have the exchange take place in this system, I will have a ship bring in our captives and we can proceed as soon as they arrive."
Apr 16, 2019 6:45 am
Cass nods. "I will have my chief engineer send over the details of the procedure as soon as she is finished drawing them up. I think conducting the exchange in this system makes sense. As I've mentioned, we have a second Spacefleet ship arriving soon, and I'm told it will also bring additional orders from my superiors. I don't know what they might contain, but I have no reason to believe they will significantly impact the agreements you and I are reaching."

A thought strikes her, and she closes her eyes for a moment. This is going to be embarrassing.

"In the interest of full disclosure, captain, I should probably tell you that during the encounter I had with one of your kind here on the Potential - the one who attacked me and, later, my chief medical officer - we engaged in some subterfuge. At the time, we were letting them believe that they were on the ship we were using as a decoy, so I told them that I was Captain Tulak. We didn't know much about your people at the time and were trying to learn as much as we could. I said a number of things intended to draw out more details about your species." She can feel herself beginning to blush as she recalls her ridiculous "queenly" performance, but then her memory skips ahead to the parasite's acid saliva burning through her face and neck and she's back on track.

"Anyway, since we're about to return that person to you, I thought you should hear those details from me first."
Apr 16, 2019 6:58 am
"Understood" He does not seem like this information is particularly surprising or relevant to him. "We will stand by for the time being. If the orders from your superiors affect our deal, please inform me as soon as possible."
Unless you want to add anything else, he is going to end the connection.
Apr 16, 2019 7:59 am
A few uneventful hours pass, giving the crew some time to relax or continue working on their projects. Although you're in space and there is no real day and night cycle here, the internal clocks of the Potential show that it is way past the regular end of all of your shifts by this point and you can feel yourself getting exhausted. Some of you might want to sleep during the wait for the other ships to arrive, some might push their way through the exhaustion and keep working.

The parasites do not contact the Potential, even after a second ship, almost identical in design to the Four arrives in the system. You can see shuttles going back and forth between the two ships and you can pick up encrypted communications between the ships.

Eventually, Cass receives a message from the bridge, informing her that the Consortium spaceship USS Dove will arrive shortly in the system and that its captain has already sent out a communications request, something which should not be necessary since you would be assumed to talk to him as soon as he arrives anyway.
OOC:
Everyone, let me know what you are doing in the time we've skipped. If you don't have any plans, I'll assume you're just catching some sleep in this time. If you're planning on doing anything else in that time, you'll have to start dealing with some exhaustion from now on
Apr 16, 2019 11:43 am
OOC:
Moira will do what she can about the plans "while Cass is talking" and then get some sleep when she's done. If it's my idea, can I roll all 3?

EDIT: For LF, I'd like to know what the hardest part of this process would be. Or rather, the part most likely to fail, please.
Last edited April 16, 2019 11:44 am

Rolls

Lasers - Docking Organization - (3d6)

(453) = 12

Apr 16, 2019 1:47 pm
OOC:
Cass definitely got some sleep.
Apr 16, 2019 3:00 pm
OOC:
This is my changed action from my LF.
Before Moira goes to sleep, she pops open the Murphy Bed and pulls out a bottle of purple liquid. Auber System Spirit Ale. Distilled from the tears of those who have visions whilst taking it. She's not sure what the rule is, but 15 years ago when she visited, the rule was people could only take a bottle if they contributed to the next batch.

That was a weird shore leave.

Still, she's running out of ideas. After sending her insights about the docking system to the datapads, she uncorks the liquor. She takes a swig and settles down for a nap.
OOC:
I'm rolling at least prepared. Can I say expert if she's done this before?

Rolls

Feelings - Visions of Engineering Enlightenment - (3d6)

(132) = 6

Apr 16, 2019 3:47 pm
OOC:
Sleep for Lorq
Apr 16, 2019 4:37 pm
OOC:
Alex would also be sleeping. Unaided by chemical enhancement. :D
Apr 16, 2019 7:43 pm
bowlofspinach says:
A few uneventful hours pass, giving the crew some time to relax or continue working on their projects. Although you're in space and there is no real day and night cycle here, the internal clocks of the Potential show that it is way past the regular end of all of your shifts by this point and you can feel yourself getting exhausted. Some of you might want to sleep during the wait for the other ships to arrive, some might push their way through the exhaustion and keep working.

The parasites do not contact the Potential, even after a second ship, almost identical in design to the Four arrives in the system. You can see shuttles going back and forth between the two ships and you can pick up encrypted communications between the ships.

Eventually, Cass receives a message from the bridge, informing her that the Consortium spaceship USS Dove will arrive shortly in the system and that its captain has already sent out a communications request, something which should not be necessary since you would be assumed to talk to him as soon as he arrives anyway.
Cass returns to the bridge after getting some much-needed sleep and a good meal. She feels recharged and more clear-headed, ready to tackle whatever is coming down in the next few hours. She requests a status report on the parasite ships and an attempt to decode their encrypted communications.

Upon receiving word of the communications request from the captain of the USS Dove, she says, "Open a channel to the Dove. Apparently, something can't wait until they're here."
Apr 16, 2019 7:43 pm
Not expecting anything major to happen until the new Consortium ship arrives, everyone lies down to get some rest. Cass, Alex and Lorq go to sleep immediately. Moira stays up for a while to work out the last flaws with their ship linking plan but when she can't get any results, she also decides to take a break for now. However, she takes a big sip of "vision inducing" liqueur before going to sleep, hoping it can provide her with some insight into the situation.

bowlofspinach sent a note to lavtodd
.

Moira wakes up, drenched in sweat and disoriented for a moment until she realizes where she is. She feels lightly hungover but nothing she can't handle.
It feels like she hasn't slept at all but according to the shops clock the period of rest is almost over and she has to get ready to return to duty.
The others also wake up and return to duty.
OOC:
I'll edit this to include Marbo once Robb posts.
Apr 16, 2019 7:47 pm
Finally feeling a bit refreshed and in as right a mind as she ever finds herself, Alex arrives on the bridge just as the commander is requesting a channel to the new Spacefleet arrival. "This ought to be good," she murmurs dryly as she takes an appropriate seat. "I should've gone to a replicator for some popcorn."
Apr 16, 2019 10:51 pm
Moira stumbles down the corridors to the bridge. She leans on Alex's chair, flapping her arm weakly at Cassano in something resembling a wave.

This ship needs a feckin' counselor....

She realizes that Alex is sitting in the chair she's leaned on.

Is she busy?
Apr 16, 2019 11:22 pm
Alex narrows her eyes at Moira. "The Commander, you mean?" she asks. "She’s... about to talk to the captain of the USS Dove, the new Spacefleet ship joining us."

Alex turns in her seat to face the engineer. "Are you all right? You look like someone dragged you here from your quarters by your feet."
Apr 16, 2019 11:25 pm
Moira takes stock of the room and quickly shakes her head, then shifts out of frame of the video.

I ah......have ah method 'a discernment, that ah tapped inta regardin' meetin' tha slugs. It does not bode well.....Ah'd like ta share mah insights.......
Apr 16, 2019 11:26 pm
Cass looks over her shoulder and thinks, Oh, boy - Moira sure picked a bad time to go on a bender.

"Um, Moira? Do we need to, um... talk in the ready room?"
Apr 16, 2019 11:27 pm
Believe it er not, Commander, that may be a good idea. Just tell tha comm that yeh had a sudden insight from engineering. Cuz yeh're about ta.
Apr 16, 2019 11:29 pm
"Well, as it turns out, we're waiting for them to arrive, so let's have a private chat. Alex, care to join us?"
Apr 16, 2019 11:43 pm
Moira steps into the ready room and grips the back of a chair. She's exhausted. Her arm hurts. Her head hurts.

And she didn't even have the benefit of getting schnockered.

She stares at the two for an awkwardly long time. Just as Cassano's mouth twitches to tell her to get on with it, Moira speaks.

First off, ah'm not drunk.

She straightens herself up as well as she can.

'Bout fifteen years ago, in tha Auber System, ah had some shore leave. Went ta go get cleansed by tha locals. An' hooooooowee it was one'a tha strangest things ah've ever done. Visions an' weird sounds an' such. But they let me keep a bottle a' their......potion.

She chooses the word carefully to promote the "not drunk" sentiment.

Ah still turn ta it on occassion when ah'm stuck. An' ah've been stuck on this exchange.

Her eyes get wide and she stares at them like a mad woman.

We were all stuck in concrete. Tha slugs - well, green things at least - had legs. Arms. Bodies. But they still looked like slugs. An' everywhere they went, in this field a' hundreds a' trapped people, they kept attackin' an' eatin'. One of 'em was huge. An' every time it ate someone, it got bigger, an' bigger, an' bigger.........

She pauses and looks at Cass for a long time, clearly trying to decide if she should continue. She takes a deep breath.

An' ah saw you, Cass. With a tiger man. When tha two of yeh stepped in tha way, tha green things stopped. Except tha big one. It kept eatin' an' attackin' an' gettin' more an' more dangerous. Ah think.....

Screw it. She had jumped the shark this much....

Ah think it ate me, too.

She stands and stares at the two of them, feeling out the room before she provides her interpretation. Though she does shrug slightly.

Fer tha record, this is their religion. This potion. Ah'm not drunk.
Last edited April 17, 2019 1:09 am
Apr 17, 2019 12:05 am
Alex comes along, having mentioned that she wouldn’t miss it for the world. After Moira finishes, Alex points out with a dry chuckle,"It being their religion and you being drunk on the potion are not mutually exclusive. But I’ve seen Auber mystics before. It’s not completely crazy to think we can gain valuable insights here."
Apr 17, 2019 12:56 am
lavtodd says:
We were all stuck in concrete. Tha slugs - well, green things at least - had legs. Arms. Bodies. But they still looked like slugs. An' everywhere they went, in this field a' hundreds a' trapped people, they kept attackin' an' eatin'. One of 'em was huge. An' every time it ate someone, it got bigger, an' bigger, an' bigger.........

She pauses and looks at Cass for a long time, clearly trying to decide if she should continue. She takes a deep breath.

An' ah saw you, Cass. With a tiger man. When tha two of yeh stepped in tha way, tha green things stopped. Except tha big one. It kept eatin' an' attackin' an' gettin' more an' more dangerous. Ah think.....

Screw it. She had jumped the shark this much....

Ah think it ate me, too.

She stands and stares at the two of them, feeling out the room before she provides her interpretation. Though she does shrug slightly.
Cass listens to Moira's account of her - well, her vision, Cass guesses is the term - quietly, and with a growing sense of detachment. Or maybe alienation - she's really not sure. When the engineer finishes, clearly looking for a reaction, Cass is at a loss. She's grateful that Alex has something to say, because she herself is drawing a blank.

But Alex isn't offering an interpretation yet, either, also looking first for a reaction from Cass. Well, maybe she should just go with her gut. That usually serves her well. She opens her mouth. "You know, I was really a great pilot. And I really enjoyed being one. I loved flying."

Okay, that really wasn't as germane a contribution as she'd hoped. Or maybe it was.

She puts her hands out, palms up, in a WTF gesture. "I have dealt with a coma-stricken commanding officer, a captured away team, and a body-stealing slug race. I've had my face half burnt off, nearly lost our top doctor, killed a bunch of slugs by accident and two in cold blood, and then got delusions of grandeur about brokering peace with them. I've felt reasonably certain about how to do this job up till now, despite how insane it's gotten, but this? I don't know what the fuck to do with this.

"When did being a commanding officer start requiring dream interpretation skills? How do I even begin trying to unpack that kind of gobbledygook? And what the hell is a tiger man? What am I supposed to do now, Moira? Order 'tea, Earl Grey, hot' from the replicator so I can try to read the leaves?"


She suddenly realizes that she's standing, waving her arms around animatedly. Not very captain-y, that. She sighs heavily and forces herself to sit back down.
Last edited April 17, 2019 1:10 am
Apr 17, 2019 1:02 am
Moira wants to offer her some purple drink, but she suspects that's a bad idea.

Ah'm sorry, ah just....

She sits, too.

Listen. Ah think it's a sign that we might be able ta convince tha people, but not tha queen. An'.... mah drunken - AH VISIONARY - state seems ta think yer doin' a great job. So....even if this is just a revelation of mah own deep fears, at least ah can say with total confidence that ah trust yeh, Cass.

She does a double take.

An' he was a tiger man. Humanoid, with a tiger face. Maybe he's on tha crew of tha Dove.

She waggles her eyebrows.

Or maybe he's your tiger.
Last edited April 17, 2019 1:06 am
Apr 17, 2019 1:14 am
lavtodd says:
Listen. Ah think it's a sign that we might be able ta convince tha people, but not tha queen. An'.... mah drunken - AH VISIONARY - state seems ta think yer doin' a great job. So....even if this is just a revelation of mah own deep fears, at least ah can say with total confidence that ah trust yeh, Cass.
Okay, that's just unfair, Cass thinks, blushing as Moira returns a profound compliment to Cass' biting sarcasm.
lavtodd says:
An' he was a tiger man. Humanoid, with a tiger face. Maybe he's on tha crew of tha Dove.

She waggles her eyebrows.

Or maybe he's your tiger.
Cass rolls her eyes at the last bit. "Okay, assuming he exists, how do we figure out who the tiger man represents? I mean, could he be the captain of the Four? It kind of seems like it must be one of the slugs, doesn't it? But if so, why is he a humanoid tiger in your vision, while I'm just regular me?"
Last edited April 17, 2019 1:35 am
Apr 17, 2019 1:27 am
We live in space! Are there any races that are literally tigers?
Apr 17, 2019 1:33 am
Cass opens her mouth, but there's nothing lurking ready to come out. She looks at Alex, who probably knows whether there's a race of tiger humanoids in the galaxy.
Apr 17, 2019 4:30 am
"It's not so much dream interpretation, Commander," says Alex, standing up and walking around behind Moira, studying her like one might take in a piece of sculpture at a museum. "More that the Auber method opens up connections to the subconscious and allows for connections to be made between bits and pieces of information a person didn't even know they had, much less that they were related. Unfortunately, the output from that process is often equally as cryptic as the original data. There's a fine art to interpreting it that the Auberine spend a lifetime studying."

She puts a comforting hand on Moira's shoulder. "I have spent exactly one week, three days and... oh, sixteen hours or so studying it, but I might be the best we've got right now, so... I think Moira's interpretation is sound. One thing I would add that might give some insight into the 'tiger man'. There's an old Earth saying that a tiger can't change its stripes. Meaning that whoever this person is might be someone that either you think has changed but actually hasn't, or that will never change regardless of what's happened."

"I would venture a guess either way that it refers to Lt. Commander Borealis."
Apr 17, 2019 5:35 am
Cass stares at a spot near the ceiling for a while before asking, "Is your guess that Zephyr is the tiger man based only on the fact that he's been a slug host and come through it safely, or is there more to your reasoning?" While there's a certain poetry to the theory, Cass isn't ready to just accept it without more to go on.
Apr 17, 2019 3:55 pm
"As I said, Commander, it's a guess. It seems to fit with observations I've made, and it's the best I can come up with on the fly," says Alex. "Moira's vision suggests that whoever this person is, they have some ability to counteract the advance of the... slugs, as we've taken to calling them. It could also be the captain of the Four, though why that manifests as a tiger, I can't say."

She shrugs. "It could really be anyone. I would say it could be me, but I lost my last bits of dark hair years ago. I have no stripes any more. In any case, I think we should keep in mind that while it might be the most abstract and curious part of the vision, it pales in comparison to the image of the slugs devouring everything in sight." She looks at Moira, squeezes her shoulder briefly, and says, "Including you."
Apr 17, 2019 4:19 pm
Moira appreciates the gesture but tries not to show too much concern past what she's already shared.

Either way, Commander. LC Lloyd. Ah cannae promote dockin' with these things anymore. Visions aside, there are too many risks ta either vesses.
Apr 17, 2019 4:21 pm
Cass deliberately puts her emotional response to the imagery aside. She can't get bogged down in that right now. "Okay, if we accept this vision as valid input, then our actual true adversary is the slug queen. Despite the obvious unsustainability of the slugs' approach to taking hosts, she keeps pushing it. It must profit her in some way that we're not able to see. The rank-and-file slugs seem individually persuadable - like the captain of the Four - but as long as the queen is committed to staying the course. That interpretation of the vision tracks perfectly with the events we've actually observed.

"So I think we should keep the fact of this vision between the three of us, but use what it confirms to formulate recommendations on how to proceed from here. Any objections to that? Any additional suggestions?"
Apr 17, 2019 4:33 pm
"Seems appropriate for now," Alex replies. "But I would point out that we've had no direct communication with the Queen. I hesitate to ascribe any motives to her until we do. For all we know at this point, the captain is manipulating access to information to give us the impression of her that he wants. It's what I'd do."

She pauses. "If I had an agenda of my own." She smiles then. If it's meant to be reassuring, it doesn't quite get there.
Apr 17, 2019 4:52 pm
Moira raises an eyebrow.

Well, yeh haven't finalized our swap plans, right? Why don't we meet in open space, outside tha home but not inside, and send two shuttles back an' forth? Then yeh can ask ta comm tha queen first, but we can warp out if we hafta.
Apr 17, 2019 5:02 pm
"Wait - what? Hang on." Cass turns to Alex. "To be clear, I'm not ascribing motives to the queen, I'm extrapolating from the available evidence. Humanoids outnumber the slugs pretty convincingly, if the numbers we've been given are real. That no doubt accounts for their extreme aggression, but it also means that they don't have a prayer of conquering humanoids if we mount a serious defense. So that means that there's something going on that we don't yet see. That matches the part of the vision where the queen keeps eating and gaining power even when we stop the other slugs.

"And the captain of the Four has never given me any impression about the queen, other than that he serves her. But some of his in-the-moment reactions have suggested that he's genuinely listening to my arguments at times. That's where I'm drawing the conclusion that individual slugs might be persuadable."


Turning back to Moira, "Now, what do you mean, meet in open space, outside the home?"
Apr 17, 2019 5:04 pm
Alex shrugs, holding her hands out. "The slug eating and gaining power doesn't have to be the Queen. That's all I'm saying. It could simply be a metaphor for the race as a whole. The vision extrapolates and connects data the mystic has at his or her disposal. By definition, it's incomplete."
Apr 17, 2019 5:09 pm
"Yes, hence my frustration with using visions to proscribe our actions!" Cass says irritably. "Either we use the interpretation to guide us or we don't, right? Either way, it doesn't significantly change how I see the situation or the response I'd like to see from Spacefleet. Does it for you?"
Apr 17, 2019 5:19 pm
No, ma'am.

Last time ah'm letting folks know about mah Auber drink.

Ah just meant that if we could do tha meetin' in open space, and exchange prisoners via shuttle, it'd be safer, ah think. Vision er not, there're too many things that could go wrong tryin' ta merge Spacefleet and other tech.
Apr 17, 2019 5:22 pm
Cass sighs. "Okay, what does that look like, then? Do we materialize the slugs on the shuttle after it leaves the Potential? And doesn't that put at least the person piloting the shuttle at risk?"
Apr 17, 2019 5:23 pm
"No, ma'am," Alex replies, inclining her head.
Apr 17, 2019 5:37 pm
We could remote control 'em.
Apr 17, 2019 6:26 pm
The door to the ready room rings and when it opens, Darcy is standing there. She seems to have used the few hours of rest to sleep and freshen up a bit and she looks in pretty good condition. Even her shoulder seems to not hurt her anymore, at least for the moment. "Commander, I apologize for the interruption but the Dove has just arrived. Captain Thompson has sent another request for immediate communication."
After delivering this message, she returns to the bridge, the door closing behind her.
Apr 17, 2019 6:34 pm
OOC:
Darcy stayed up the whole time? Why? I feel like Cass would have ordered her to get some rest.
Apr 17, 2019 6:36 pm
OOC:
Someone had to stay on the bridge and in command. Her rationale was that she can probably take a rest once you're back on the bridge. You're kind of short on command crew at the moment. If you would have ordered her to take a rest, I'll edit the post
Apr 17, 2019 6:39 pm
OOC:
In all seriousness, Cass would have ordered her to get some rest, precisely because we're so short on command crew. She would have ordered whoever was taking the conn to notify them both if something important came up, but she would want Darcy rested enough to make good decisions in case Cass has to leave the bridge or the ship for some reason.
Apr 17, 2019 7:14 pm
Cass acknowledges Darcy's report and nods at Alex and Moira. "Well, let's go see what fresh hell we have to contend with now."

She exits the ready room and takes the captain's chair on the bridge. "Open a channel to the Dove."
Apr 17, 2019 7:22 pm
The viewscreen turns on and shows the image of a man in his mid-fifties. He has a thick black beard with some visible grey strands in it and short shaved hair in the same color. His face is serious and he does not give you a chance to say anything before he starts speaking: "Commander, spacefleet command sends their regards. Admiral Hao appreciates your work so far and apparently, spacefleet wants you to stay in charge of the situation for the moment because you have the most insight into the situation." He pauses, just short enough that you don’t get a chance to interrupt him. "But we both know how this is going to go. You’re not a captain yet. You’re barely a first officer. Spacefleet might think you’re doing fine but this must be very overwhelming for someone like you. You’ll still be the face of this operation but from now on, I’ll be making the decisions – and in the end, we’ll share the credit evenly." He gives you a wide smile that is supposed to look friendly but to you seems more condescending than anything else. "Don’t worry about this thing anymore, Junior. Together, we’ll have it wrapped up in no time. Now, what is the situation? Full report please."
Apr 17, 2019 7:45 pm
Cass smiles a genuine smile. After so many hours of unending tension and life-or-death situations, being treated with condescension and outright disrespect by a man who has no idea what he's talking about feels like a putting on a comfortable pair of broken-in boots.

"Captain Thompson," she says by way of greeting. "I'll be happy to give you a full report, but I think we'd be better served by face-to-face communications that can't be intercepted. We'll send over transporter coordinates and expect to see you shortly in our transporter room. Cassano out."

She cuts off the transmission, still smiling, and turns to Mezron. " Send him the coordinates and go meet him in the transporter room. Escort him to my ready room."
Apr 17, 2019 7:52 pm
Darcy, what do you know about Capt. Thompson? "
Apr 17, 2019 8:01 pm
Thompson doesn't reply before the communication ends. Mezron leaves the bridge to pick him up from the transporter room.
"I do know some things about him, actually. My sister was serving under Thompson for a while, right after he made captain. To make it short, I heard a lot about him as a commanding officer but not many good things. Apparently, the rate of people asking for reassignment while under his command is more than twice the spacefleet average."
Apr 17, 2019 8:04 pm
"I’m shocked," Alex murmurs dryly.
Apr 17, 2019 8:07 pm
Word travels fast aboard the potential. Marbo hears that a new member from higher up has arrived on board, so he proceeds to the bridge, and stands, arms folded behind his back at attention once he arrives. He will wait for this new Big Wig to show up, and then his plan will enact.

He briefly looks to the rest of the crew as he stands there at attention, and gives a terribly deliberate wink.
Apr 17, 2019 8:08 pm
"Staggeringly hard to believe," Cass says. She looks at Alex and Moira. "Let's go get ready to meet with the man who is going to wrap this up in no time. Darcy, send a summary report of the situation to my data pad, in case Capt. Junior feels like reading."
Apr 17, 2019 8:14 pm
"I still have the 79 page info dump I sent to spacefleet. Will that do or does he need a personalized, actually useful version?", Darcy does not seem thrilled at the prospect of working with Thompson.
Apr 17, 2019 8:23 pm
OOC:
Okay, Marbo - we're not giving Capt. Thompson the big greeting. He's being escorted by a junior officer from the transporter room to the ready room. If Marbo wants to waylay him during the trip, he can do that, but there's not going to be a receiving line on the bridge. Cass is trying to assert some authority.
bowlofspinach says:
"I still have the 79 page info dump I sent to spacefleet. Will that do or does he need a personalized, actually useful version?", Darcy does not seem thrilled at the prospect of working with Thompson.
"Can you condense it down to the highlight reel? I don't want you to go to a lot of trouble, just want him to have a written reference in the improbable event that he doesn't actually listen when I speak to him."
Apr 18, 2019 6:35 am
Mezron arrives back on the bridge after a short time. She gives Cass an unsure look and quickly after her, Captain Thompson arrives on the bridge as well. You notice he is much shorter than you had initially assumed from the video communication. Cass is a good bit taller than him. He walks up to her. "Cassano, eh? I know you're not a real captain but even you should know that that's no way to greet a fellow commanding officer, especially not if he's been sent to help dig you out of the trouble you got yourself into. Sending someone who's just barely not an Ensign anymore."
He throws a side glance at Mezron who has moved back to the helm and is now watching the conversation from there.
"Well, anyway, let's go to your ready room and have this talk. Don't see why it couldn't have been done on comm, that's how we captains usually do it."
Without waiting for anyone to respond he walks over to the door of the ready room.
Apr 18, 2019 7:06 am
Cass gestures for Alex and Moira to join her and gives Darcy the conn. Following close behind Thompson, Cass slips past him casually as they enter the ready room and goes around to sit in the chair behind the desk. She sits back and waits for the others to sort out where they sit. She picks up the data pad to see if Darcy has had time to send the summary she requested.

She introduces Alex and Moira, since Thompson hadn't been interested in such formalities on the bridge, then says, "Captain, I was told you would be bringing instructions from Admiral Hao, not just her compliments. Could we start with those instructions, please? Because if what you've told me is the extent of it, then it's clear that she intended me to remain in charge of this operation, in which case I have no intention of turning over the decision-making to you."
Last edited April 19, 2019 1:05 am
Apr 18, 2019 8:03 am
Thompson sits down at the desk. He looks at Moira and says: "A black tea, milk and lots of sugar, please. Would you be so kind."
Then he turns back to Cass. "They've asked for this diplomat to join us, Adakys Kot, but he won't be able to be here for a few more days. We're supposed to hold the fort and get those captives back that you've been negotiating for. Hao wants us to find out as much information about these parasites' culture and goals as possible before Kot arrives. If possible, we're supposed to get a peek at their home base. However, we're not supposed to go in or talk to their queen, yet."
He puts on the same fake smile that he already gave you over comm earlier. "And of course, you'll stay in command of this operation, just as Hao wants. I'm just here as an adviser." The way he emphasizes the last word clearly indicates that that's not his true intentions. "Wouldn't want you to mess up something big because you're not ready."
OOC:
You dont have Darcy's notes yet
Apr 18, 2019 12:43 pm
When he first steps into the room, Moira mutters something about the short man compensating for something. She smiles warmly.

Right yeh are, cap’n!
OOC:
Rolling insight. Prepared since Moira’s offended. Expert since she’s using one of her toys.

Rolls

Feelings - how much trouble would I get in if I added something else to his drink? - (3d6)

(262) = 10

Apr 18, 2019 1:35 pm
OOC:
Depends on what and whether he would notice. If you poison him, you'll get in a lot of trouble. If you just mess with the taste and he notices, he might get pissed at you but whether you get in any trouble would depend on your commanding officer
Apr 18, 2019 1:55 pm
Hearing the tone of Moira's voice, Cass makes eye contact with her. Moira knows her well enough to recognize that look - she is warning her to behave herself.

"Captain, since you're here to advise me, what sort of experience do you have in first contacts and negotiation?"
Apr 18, 2019 2:16 pm
He leans back in his chair. "As the first officer of the Moscow, I've been directly involved with first contact to three species when they had developed Warp capability. After I became captain, I have also been present during the negotiations with the Naplicans on Taurus-7 and my crew has played a central role in negotiating the peace between the Bohrans and the Sheraks." He builds and maintains eye contact, trying to get Cass to break it off first. "Now with that out of the way, what are your experiences regarding these matters, Junior?"

Cass, you notice a small alert on your datapad. You have received the information from Darcy
Apr 18, 2019 2:38 pm
bowlofspinach says:
Thompson sits down at the desk. He looks at Moira and says: "A black tea, milk and lots of sugar, please. Would you be so kind."
Then he turns back to Cass. "They've asked for this diplomat to join us, Adakys Kot, but he won't be able to be here for a few more days. We're supposed to hold the fort and get those captives back that you've been negotiating for. Hao wants us to find out as much information about these parasites' culture and goals as possible before Kot arrives. If possible, we're supposed to get a peek at their home base. However, we're not supposed to go in or talk to their queen, yet."
He puts on the same fake smile that he already gave you over comm earlier. "And of course, you'll stay in command of this operation, just as Hao wants. I'm just here as an adviser." The way he emphasizes the last word clearly indicates that that's not his true intentions. "Wouldn't want you to mess up something big because you're not ready."
OOC:
You dont have Darcy's notes yet
OOC:
Im just imagine picard "Tea. Earl Grey. Hot."
Apr 18, 2019 2:59 pm
Moira shoots a look back as if to say "He’s a pretentious a**! He’s gonna ruin it!"

She delivers the coffee exactly as ordered.
Apr 18, 2019 3:20 pm
Thompson doesn't even look at you or say anything. He just accepts the tea and takes a sip, keeping his eyes focused on Cass.
Apr 18, 2019 3:54 pm
With a small smile, Cass leans back in her chair, mirroring his action. "Well, within the last sixteen hours, I’ve assumed command of the Potential when my captain became incapacitated, responded to a distress call that turned out to be an ambush, and escaped the ambush without being boarded.

"Following orders from Admiral DeLeary, I collaborated with Captain Tulak of the Antarctica on a plan to rescue my missing away team and try to disrupt the pirates’ operation. I orchestrated and conducted a sting operation that resulted in the capture of one of the parasite ships. After that, we learned that the aliens are parasites that take humanoids as host bodies, and that the biofilters in our transporters detect and remove them from the humanoid hosts.

"I then conducted an extensive interrogation of one of the parasites and learned more details about their species’ origin, their current numbers, their goals, and their political structure. Then I survived a vicious attack by this parasite that took off a fair amount of my face and neck. After a couple of hours of treatment, I resumed command in time to prevent the remaining parasites from warning the rest of their fleet. Also during this time, we downloaded and translated a great deal of their ship’s computer files, learning the flight history of that ship and the likely location of the parasites’ home base.

"After that, I implemented another sting operation, captaining the parasites’ pirated ship with the pretense of having captured the Potential. Along the way, we received a distress call from another parasite stolen vessel issued by two of my missing away team and other captives from Spacefleet."
Cass nods slightly toward Alex.

"I sent a boarding party to take that ship, then learned that one of my away team had been made a host and was trying to play us. During this encounter, another parasite vessel – this one of their own design – arrived. After a battle that came close to destroying both ships, I managed to convince the captain to start peace talks, and solely on the strength of my arguments, he sent back all of the Spacefleet prisoners from the stolen ship. I even got him to agree to return my compromised officer, since the hosting was not yet irreversible.

"While we were on the parasites’ ship to witness the removal of the parasite, a small mutiny occurred. We helped put it down. I shot the ringleader of the mutiny myself. Lt. Comm. Lloyd shot the other one. We transported back to the Potential, where my officer was able to be saved in the specialized medbay I had ordered set up before we left.

"Now, I’ve successfully negotiated for the return of my two missing away team members, as well as a number of other non-host Consortium prisoners, in exchange for the restored parasites caught in our biofilters. Technology that I ordered my chief engineer to develop."


She leans forward, her hands on the desk, fingers laced. "So those are my credentials for this mission. I may be ‘barely a first officer’ in your view, but I’ve taken everything that’s been thrown at me in the last less than a day and managed not to get a single member of my crew killed, managed to keep possession of my ship and all her technology, and have created the beginnings of a diplomatic relationship with no diplomacy experience at all.

"So the very least I will ask of you is that you address me by my rank from this moment forward, Captain Thompson."
Last edited April 19, 2019 1:10 am
Apr 18, 2019 4:11 pm
"Yes, it sounds as if you've been performing well under pressure. But what I gather from this speech of yours is that you have no previous experience with this kind of work and have just been going by instinct. I'm sure you understand that that won't go well forever." He takes another sip of his tea, then says: "Oh, how rude of me. I know I'm your superior officer so you must have felt intimidated but please, feel free to have a drink as well. I don't mind."
His eyes shift to Alex for a moment and she can easily tell from this quick glance that he does not appreciate her presence. He does not say anything to her, however, instead turning back to Cass. "You want to do a prisoner exchange. I've already talked to my chief of security and we agree that it would be best to perform it in the Potential's hangar bay. My engineers are standing by and are ready to set up some security measures on my command."
Apr 18, 2019 5:54 pm
"Captain Thompson, if I may," says Alex, smiling with perfect politeness, although she doesn't wait for permission before she continues. "It is a pleasure to have you on board. I've heard a great deal about you, especially the Bohran-Sherak peace talks. Quite a thrill ride that must have been, when the Sherak high minister became ill and blamed the Bohrans for it? That could have completely derailed the whole process, had you not had such good people working on it." Her smile never wavers, even growing a bit, all outward admiration for the result of those talks. Of course, her sources say that it was in spite of the captain that the whole thing didn't end up in war, but honestly... whose side of the story can you really trust?

"I'm sure you've got the best crew working with you now, as well," she continues. "Is Marith T'vok still with you? I worked with her back at the Academy. She could've done well in the diplomatic corps, had she not been such a great engineer as well. If she's still on the Dove, I'm guessing your proposed security measures are top-notch. Though Lt. Commanders Bruce and Darcy have been doing a lot of work on security as well. I'm sure Marith would be happy to incorporate their data."
Apr 18, 2019 6:09 pm
He turns towards Alex. He's done his best to avoid acknowledging her but he can't ignore her anymore. "Ah yes, Lieutenant Lloyd. I've heard all about your diplomatic history. What are you offering our enemies this time? A star system? T'vok has been reassigned, unfortunately, but trust me, my current engineer is at least on the same level." He turns back to Cass. "My first advice for this situation: Get rid of Grey. She used to be a promising diplomat but now she's a liability more than anything else."
He finishes his tea and sets it down. "You have Darcy working for you? Helena Darcy? Used to be on my ship. Damn good engineer but a bit... difficult to work with, wouldn't you agree? Well, I'd be delighted to hear what your people have come up with."
Apr 18, 2019 6:55 pm
Cass maintains her poker face. "Lt. Commander Lloyd has provided invaluable insights and advice on the current situation. I intend to keep utilizing her talents for the duration of this matter. And she was referring to my acting first officer, Lt. Commander Cassandra Darcy, who's served me very well under difficult circumstances.

"As for the prisoner exchange, we will not be conducting it anywhere on the Potential. The parasites are simply too potentially lethal to risk having twelve of them on our ship, especially since they will be disoriented and unaware of the agreement in place for their exchange. I won't put any more of our people at risk of attack. The last one we were trying to work with tore out the throat of my chief doctor.

"Lt. Commander Bruce has proposed using shuttles to exchange the prisoners on both sides. We'll reconstitute the parasites remotely, directly onto the shuttle, and fly the shuttle by remote control to the Four. That will ensure that no humanoids are put in direct contact with the reconstituted parasites."
Last edited April 19, 2019 1:12 am
Apr 18, 2019 7:13 pm
Thompson stays quiet for a moment, then he says: "Well, send your exchange plan over to my ship. I'll have my people look it over. If this is so important to you, I'm sure we'll be able to accommodate you." He gives you another fake smile as he gets up from the chair. "Give my regards to Darcy. And my condolences for her father. I'm a friend of the family. And don't worry about having me escorted to the transporter room. I'll find the way myself."
He turns to leave unless any of you have anything else to say
Apr 18, 2019 7:47 pm
"You can deliver your regards to Darcy yourself, since she has the conn. I'd avoid offering condolences, however. We are hoping the captain will make a complete recovery." Cass stands and walks over to Thompson, data pad in hand. "As are, I would assume, most friends of the family."

She hands him the data pad. "You'll find a summary report on the events of the situation on this pad. We'll send over the plans for the prisoner exchange for you to look over. Pleasure meeting you, captain."
Last edited April 19, 2019 1:15 am
Apr 18, 2019 8:07 pm
Thompson leaves the ready room and looks around the bridge until locking eyes with Darcy for a moment and giving her his trademark fake smile. "Cass Darcy, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm sure we'll be working together well."
Darcy doesn't reply and Thompson turns to leave the bridge without acknowledging anyone else there. A few minutes later, you receive confirmation that he has beamed back to the Dove.
Apr 18, 2019 8:16 pm
To Alex and Moira, Cass says, "All in favor of including him in the prisoner exchange?" and raises her hand.
Apr 18, 2019 8:35 pm
Moira lets out a scream of pent-up rage.

WHAT AN ABSOLUTE FECKIN’ TOOL. AH CANNAE EVEN -

She freezes, suddenly calm and inquisitive, and hops out onto the bridge.

"Lieutenant Commander Darcy. That slimeball. Ah know yer better at Spacefleet dynamics than us. An’ they sent us HIM? Are we expected ta fail?"
Apr 18, 2019 8:42 pm
Darcy smiles very lightly at Moira's outrage, even though under other circumstances, she would probably be annoyed at it. "He's an asshole but he knows how to suck up to his superiors. That kind of officer usually doesn't make it into the captain's chair but I guess he's better at it than most. We'll just have to deal with having him around. At least Cassano is still in command of this mission."
Apr 19, 2019 5:06 pm
Zephyr is laying in his bed, unable to rest any longer. This is getting silly, he thinks to himself, I am perfectly capable of functioning normally again. There is a concern of psychological impacts, sure, but lying here in isolation is just going to make things worse.

He stands up and presses his comm badge, "Commander Cassano, Borealis here. I'd like to return to light duty if at all possible. I have been cleared to return to the bridge, but with your permission I would like to spend some time doing an analysis of the symbiotes' biological needs. Perhaps I can come up with a way to help them survive without needing host bodies."

He paces the floor as he says this, "Assuming you approve, is there any way I can get more information on their biological needs and what avenues have already been pursued?"
Apr 19, 2019 5:18 pm
Cass listens to Zephyr's request with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's encouraging that he feels ready to return to work, and his choice of project is certainly something in which they could really use a breakthrough. On the other, she's not convinced that he's really ready to tackle something like that, psychologically.

The Potential really needs a counselor.

"All right, I'll approve your return to light duty, and your choice of project. I'll have Doctors Lorq and Zlam share all research data and notes regarding the physiology of the sl... symbiotes, along with anything else they have on them. But I want you to check in with me regularly, okay? I want to hear about your progress, even if there's nothing really to report."
Apr 19, 2019 5:20 pm
Alex comes out of the ready room more amused than anything. "People like that are just set up for a fall. They're standing on a precipice, and all it takes is a good strong breeze to... let's say... give them a nudge."

She smiles crookedly at Moira. "We're clever women. I'm sure that if we put our heads together, we can at least keep him from derailing our efforts. At best, we can probably come up with a good strong breeze, yes?"
Apr 19, 2019 5:30 pm
Cass grins. "At the very least, we can do that much. He gave in rather easily, don't you think? I guess that means he expected me to cave, but knew he doesn't have authorization to pull rank on me. We should be careful, though. I don't put it past him to undermine our efforts. I don't think he really appreciates the gravity of this situation, or the imminent dangers."
Apr 19, 2019 5:37 pm
Alex snorts indelicately. "He doesn't appreciate the gravity of any situation. Those peace talks he referenced, that I commented on? I have it on authority I trust that he actually changed the menu for the state dinner to include karavis paste, when anyone with two spare brain cells to rub together knows either that the Sheraks are highly allergic, or that at the very least you should check dietary restrictions. He's an idiot of the first degree, who takes credit for his people's work at every possible opportunity."
Last edited April 19, 2019 5:37 pm
Apr 19, 2019 5:41 pm
Cass stops grinning. If this moron had interfered with a menu for a state dinner to disastrous effect, there's no telling what he might do to screw up the delicate negotiations with the parasites. She lowers her voice so that only Moira and Alex can hear her. "All of which raises the question - why did Admiral Hao send him? It's starting to look almost as though she doesn't actually want the diplomatic effort to succeed."
Apr 19, 2019 5:48 pm
"I don't know if it's as straightforward as that," says Alex. "Adakys Kot, the diplomat Thompson referenced? I've heard good things, but have no personal knowledge to offer. Someone clearly sent this bumbling idiot, but I'm hesitant to say it's Hao."
Apr 19, 2019 5:50 pm
Cass calls Darcy over. "Can you send the three of us everything you can find on Thompson? I think we need to know more about our new 'adviser' and his possible sponsors."
Apr 19, 2019 7:20 pm
"I think you're reading too much into it, Commander. As Lloyd said, he's great at taking the credit for other people's accomplishments. There are rumors floating around about him and the people who served under him know what he's like but he sucks up to his superiors any chance he gets. I would assume that Hao just thinks he's much better suited for this job than he is. That said, I can definitely get a dossier on him put together, commander."
OOC:
78, if you want, give me a roll to see what Alex knows about Kot
Apr 19, 2019 7:37 pm
Lorq approached Lt. Commander Borealis with his data pad.
The captain told me you wanted to take a crack at the parasites biology and wanted to see what we had done so far. This is a summary, but all the research is available.
I think fresh eyes are always a good idea when you get stuck. Please let me know any way that I can help. I would be happy to work with you.
Apr 19, 2019 7:39 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"I think you're reading too much into it, Commander. As Lloyd said, he's great at taking the credit for other people's accomplishments. There are rumors floating around about him and the people who served under him know what he's like but he sucks up to his superiors any chance he gets. I would assume that Hao just thinks he's much better suited for this job than he is. That said, I can definitely get a dossier on him put together, commander."
Cass sighs. "You're probably right. Well, if there's anything in his background I don't already know that you think we'd find useful, forward it to me."
Apr 19, 2019 7:46 pm
OOC:
Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’, keep those Feelings rollin’...

Rolls

Feelings, expert (maybe?) - (1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (1) = 1

1d6 : (5) = 5

Apr 19, 2019 7:50 pm
"Of course, commander. If I may add something, while Thompson is terrible to work with, his crew probably isn't. We should be able to ask for their help if needed."", Darcy replies. "Now that the Dove has arrived, should we contact the Four again?"
OOC:
Zephyr, if you want to research something, give me a Lasers roll. Lorq can help. You already tried the robot thing but didn't get many results since the slug was killed immediately after putting it in. It'll be difficult to come up with something new but you can try
Apr 19, 2019 7:54 pm
OOC:
Alex, you've heard of Kot but you've never met him. He is a Grall diplomat, joined with a symbiote, who is not a member of spacefleet but works with them from time to time. He has a good track record and reputation but you don't remember any specifics at the moment
Apr 19, 2019 7:58 pm
bowlofspinach says:
OOC:
Zephyr, if you want to research something, give me a Lasers roll. Lorq can help. You already tried the robot thing but didn't get many results since the slug was killed immediately after putting it in. It'll be difficult to come up with something new but you can try
OOC:
I'm betting that Marbo would also help, as he's done some pretty extensive research on the slugs, too.
Apr 19, 2019 8:02 pm
OOC:
He can only get one extra die for help but both of them can attempt to help in case one of them fails. And for rp purposes, of course all three of them can get together to think about this
Apr 19, 2019 8:02 pm
Machiabelly says:
Lorq approached Lt. Commander Borealis with his data pad.
The captain told me you wanted to take a crack at the parasites biology and wanted to see what we had done so far. This is a summary, but all the research is available.
I think fresh eyes are always a good idea when you get stuck. Please let me know any way that I can help. I would be happy to work with you.
"Thank you Lorq. I'll read them over and discuss any ideas I may have with you. I'm sure between the two of us we can come up with something."
OOC:
Can I get a summary of what we know from anyone? I wasn't part of that discussion before, but I skimmed it way back when. Here's what I think I know:
* They're shell-less mollusc like creatures, similar to a slug
* They feed off of Melanin, which is why their hosts grow pale
* They separate the hosts spinal cord and interrupt all sensory, motor, and reflex signals
* They are obviously sentient, and probably act as individuals rather than some sort of collective
* They are not interested in living within some sort of simulated/cultured meatbags
* It seems like there was some discussion of android/cybernetic hosts?

Edit: adding Lasers roll.
Last edited April 19, 2019 8:04 pm

Rolls

Lasers, expert, help - (1d6, 1d6, 1d6)

1d6 : (5) = 5

1d6 : (6) = 6

1d6 : (6) = 6

Apr 19, 2019 11:12 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"Of course, commander. If I may add something, while Thompson is terrible to work with, his crew probably isn't. We should be able to ask for their help if needed."", Darcy replies. "Now that the Dove has arrived, should we contact the Four again?"
"First, send over Lt. Commander Bruce's plans for the shuttle-based prisoner exchange to the Dove, as well as to the Four. Then hail the Four so we can discuss this new arrangement. I'm sure their captain will wonder why we've abandoned the plan to dock our two ships together."
Apr 20, 2019 6:13 am
Darcy sends the information over to both ships as requested and, after enough time for them to go through the information, opens a channel to the Four. The captain appears on the view screen and greets you.
Apr 20, 2019 6:16 am
Science team: You look over the data again but even Zephyr's fresh pair of eyes can't come up with anything beyond the robot suit idea. You have one or two ideas for small improvements but nothing major comes to your mind.
Apr 20, 2019 6:38 am
Zephyr, we know that artificial hosts did not work out well. Do you think that if we installed an artificial melanin system that would feed the symbiote, would it make a difference?
Last edited April 20, 2019 6:39 am
Apr 20, 2019 6:49 am
OOC:
Let's science this thing.

Rolls

Laser science medicine thing - (1D6)

(2) = 2

Apr 20, 2019 6:52 am
You come up with a way to include a tiny limited replicator into Moira's design that can feed artificial melanin to the slug inside the robot. It should be definitely more efficient and suited for long-term use than Moira's initial idea was
Apr 20, 2019 6:58 am
Happy that something has gone a little right, Lorq sends a message to the captain.

Captain, I know you are busy, but if you get a chance to take a look at these notes and schematic, I have made a slight improvement to the artificial host design that may make it more palatable to the...ummm...do we have a name for them? Anyway, let me know if you have any questions.
Apr 20, 2019 7:46 am
Machiabelly says:
Happy that something has gone a little right, Lorq sends a message to the captain.

Captain, I know you are busy, but if you get a chance to take a look at these notes and schematic, I have made a slight improvement to the artificial host design that may make it more palatable to the...ummm...do we have a name for them? Anyway, let me know if you have any questions.
Cass hesitates. "I keep wishing we did. Apparently, none of their proper nouns can be translated. Also, it's Commander, Dr. Lorq. And I could look at your notes and schematics, but it will probably be more efficient if you just tell me about your idea. What do you have in mind?"
Apr 20, 2019 3:31 pm
Sorry, commander. Well boiled down to the salient point...we offered the symbiote an artificial host and that didn't go well. I looked at the host and realized that since the symbiote fed on melanin, and our host had none, it might be starving the symbiote. So I installed a mini replicator that will produce melanin as needed. Since living hosts eventually run out this might actually be preferable. I hope that helps
Apr 20, 2019 3:57 pm
"Brilliant idea Lorq! Lets just hope it takes. I have come up with a binomial nomenclature Id like to propose for the slugs. Veronicella Tellinii, or Verons for short. Veronicella is a genus of terrestrial slugs found on earth, and Tellinii is a species of parasites that take over its hosts central nervous system. It seemed fitting to me, what do you think?"
Apr 20, 2019 6:18 pm
Sounds great. I don't know if we should tell them where we got the name of course. Do you have a short form in mind?
Apr 20, 2019 6:19 pm
Quote:
or Verons for short
Apr 20, 2019 6:20 pm
Hearing Zephyr's voice, Cass is surprised. Seems he's hit the ground running on his return to light duty. "I like it, Zeph. From now on, let's refer to them as Verons.

"And I agree that your idea is brilliant, Dr. Lorq. Start working on a prototype right away. And keep me posted on your progress. Cassano out."
Apr 20, 2019 6:24 pm
bowlofspinach says:
Darcy sends the information over to both ships as requested and, after enough time for them to go through the information, opens a channel to the Four. The captain appears on the view screen and greets you.
"Hello, Captain. I assume you've seen our revised plan for the prisoner exchange?"
Apr 20, 2019 6:27 pm
"I have. I assume there were some unexpected difficulties with the docking. Or does it have to do with your newly arrived allies? I hope your new orders do not conflict with the exchange."
Apr 20, 2019 6:32 pm
"It's the former. We are unable to guarantee that docking the ships together won't do significant damage to one or both vessels, so we pivoted to a method of exchange that exposes us both to very limited risk. As for the new arrivals, I've been assured that I'm still leading our negotiation.

"Speaking of which, have your new arrivals brought changes to your orders?"
Last edited April 20, 2019 6:41 pm
Apr 20, 2019 6:54 pm
"No changes. Until the exchange, I will still be in charge of these negotiations. After that, while I hope to remain deeply involved in our peace talks, I cannot guarantee it. The ship carrying our prisoners for the exchange as well as the host for our restored sister has left home base and should be here within a few hours. We will be ready to perform the exchange as soon as they arrive. If you wish to request further backup from your admirals, we will wait of course but the humanoids will be transported in an unarmed freighter so there is no reason to be alarmed. And one more question: We have received a communications request from your allied ship but have denied it until now because we decided to speak to you first. Should we open communications with your ally ship after we conclude our conversation?"
Apr 20, 2019 7:04 pm
Cass seethes inwardly but remains placid on the outside. "No. I'll hail them after our conversation is over and find out what they want." She briefly imagines giving the order to fire photon torpedoes at the Dove while looking Thompson in the eye on the viewscreen.

"Captain, in an earlier conversation between us, you mentioned that your people have tried using mechanical host bodies but that they weren't adequate to your needs. Our scientists have come up with a design for an artificial host body with a mechanism that produces melanin as needed. Hypothetically, would such an artificial body potentially meet the needs of your species?"
Last edited April 20, 2019 7:04 pm
Apr 20, 2019 7:09 pm
"Now that would end up an unmitigated disaster," Alex mutters under her breath when the idea of the Verons speaking directly to the Dove comes up, barely even audible to someone standing next to her.
Last edited April 20, 2019 7:10 pm
Apr 20, 2019 7:29 pm
The captain hesitates before speaking. He seems to carefully consider his answer. "Hypothetically, yes. It is possible to create mechanical bodies that can keep us alive, with your design maybe even indefinitely. However, in practice it's not as easy as that. Our people have evolved to live within living host bodies. Asking us to live outside a host body is like asking you to live without your skin. A mechanical body that feeds us will not change that."
Apr 20, 2019 9:09 pm
Cass considers her own words carefully. "That's true, it won't. But if my understanding is correct, your species evolved that way because host bodies on your home planet were plentiful. At some point, that changed, and you started to want more sophisticated host bodies, which meant attacking other sentient species. Again, if my information is correct, your numbers have been greatly reduced over time. That would seem to suggest that natural selection is not in favor of this method, wouldn't it?

"I understand that accepting artificial bodies is a huge leap, but I disagree that it's like asking me to live without my skin. It's more like asking a civilization who has built its economy on enslaving other races to shift to a different way of providing for itself, without the use of slaves. All I'm asking is that you consider the prospect. It could very well prove to be the salvation of your species."
Apr 20, 2019 9:52 pm
"We could take about the ethics of our way of life for days without coming to an agreement. What I was trying to convey with my comparison were not ethics but the facts of our biology. You offered us the possibility of joining with willing hosts, sharing a body between two minds. Despite this going against everything my people stand for, we were willing to consider it. And now, that we have declared ourselves willing to compromise, you ask for more. Suddenly, a willing joining is not enough anymore, suddenly my people have to live in agony and torture. And if we don't agree, we will be destroyed by the superior firepower of your Consortium? Is that what you speak of when you say 'the salvation of my species'?"
When the captain replies, he starts out out in his regular, calm voice but towards the end, he gets definitely upset. He does not yell or get up from his seat but his voice carries noticeable anger
Apr 20, 2019 10:12 pm
bowlofspinach says:
"We could take about the ethics of our way of life for days without coming to an agreement. What I was trying to convey with my comparison were not ethics but the facts of our biology. You offered us the possibility of joining with willing hosts, sharing a body between two minds. Despite this going against everything my people stand for, we were willing to consider it. And now, that we have declared ourselves willing to compromise, you ask for more. Suddenly, a willing joining is not enough anymore, suddenly my people have to live in agony and torture. And if we don't agree, we will be destroyed by the superior firepower of your Consortium? Is that what you speak of when you say 'the salvation of my species'?"
When the captain replies, he starts out out in his regular, calm voice but towards the end, he gets definitely upset. He does not yell or get up from his seat but his voice carries noticeable anger
Cass shakes her head. "Captain, I'm really sorry if I gave you the impression that I'm threatening you or going back on anything I agreed to. That's not the case at all. My proposal about willing hosts is still on the table, as far as I'm concerned. I apologize for seeming to imply otherwise. I hope you won't let my diplomatic clumsiness fracture the foundation we've been laying over the last hours. Your willingness to compromise is the only reason we've come this far, and I would never want to jeopardize that.

"My only desire is to build trust between our peoples so we can reach a lasting compromise and peace."
Last edited April 20, 2019 10:16 pm
Apr 21, 2019 6:30 am
Good, I apologize for the miscommunication", the captain's voice is immediately calm again when he speaks. "Are there any other issues we need to discuss at the moment?"
Apr 21, 2019 7:06 am
"Not at the moment. We'll be in touch later. Cassano out."

Cass severs the connection and looks at Alex. "Well, now that I've dug another hole and successfully climbed back out of it, I guess I'll check in with Thompson to see how he's planning to try and screw things up.

"Mezron, hail the Dove."
Apr 21, 2019 7:14 am
The view screen lights up with the image of Thompson sitting in the captain's chair on a bridge very similar to the Potential's. A blond man who appears to be his first officer is sitting next to him.
Thompson begins speaking the second the connection is established. "Commander Cassano, I have to say, these parasites are rather impolite. I've been trying to introduce myself since our arrival in this system but they keep rejecting my hails. And now we see that they do accept yours. I don't suppose you've told them not to talk to us, have you?"
Apr 21, 2019 7:24 am
"I had not even been aware that you were trying to contact the Four without telling me, Captain, until the captain of the Four told me about it. He said that he elected not to accept your communication without talking to me first, since we've already established some rapport. I have to say that I was a little surprised that you did such a thing, Captain Thompson. You're aware that our relationship with these people is fragile. The slightest wrong word could shatter all the progress we've made so far."
Apr 21, 2019 7:30 am
"You're underestimating my experience, Junior. I know how to deal with tense diplomatic situations. And besides, I was just going to introduce myself, nothing else. Since I am going to lead these negotiations from now on, with your help of course, I felt like it was necessary."
Apr 21, 2019 7:33 am
Cass takes a deep breath. "Captain, I'm going to continue to lead the negotiations, just as Spacefleet has stipulated. I thought I made that clear when we met earlier."
Apr 21, 2019 7:39 am
While she's talking to Captain Thompson, Cass looks at his first officer, trying to get a sense of how he is responding to the situation.
Apr 21, 2019 7:57 am
"Yes, yes, you know what I mean. Anyway, we looked over your plans for the exchange. They look acceptable so once the parasites are ready for the exchange, we can proceed as you proposed."
Apr 21, 2019 7:59 am
The first officer's expression is neutral and he does not speak up. He seems to avoid getting mixed up in this discussion.

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