ST:TTV607 | "A Pirate's Life"

Stardate 97840.2

Kelly and Eva work with Sin's help to correct their accidental transposition with unexepcted consequences for everyone. While the Valley Forge suffers another twist of fate to keep them from supporting the Coalition at Terminu, things heat up for those who are there as the An city ship is threatened by a Horde boarding attempt...

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Sin@crystyl FX | While the VF makes it's way back to Terminu, preparations are finalized to swap Kelly and Eva back to their own bodies. Sin@crystyl | The doorbell to Kelly's quarters chimes. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Kelly's voice calls out, "One moment!" Half a minute later, the door slides open with Kelly-Eva behind it. Sin@crystyl steps in, "Kelly, you're here too. Good. How are you both doing?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles, "Hello Sin. We're doing well. Both of us are settling in to our bodies and getting used to things.” Sin@crystyl:"Not getting too comfortable I hope?" she smiles knowingly Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smirks and pats herself, "It's pretty comfortable. I mean I'd still like to switch back, I'm /more/ used to my own body, but it wouldn't be too bad if we were stuck like this permanently.” Sin@crystyl:"I think somebody's starting to like her new mental abilities" she smirks. "Have you been practising like we talked about?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 chuckles, "I won't deny it, but I am missing having to sleep less. And vice-versa for Eva." She nods, "I've been keeping up the practice. I'm going to need to in order to switch back.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Eva-Kelly steps out from the back room and gives a wave to Sin, "Hello Sin.” Sin@crystyl glances over, "Hey, there you are!" she glances back in response, "That's good to hear, because you're not the only who's been practising” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 steps over to the couch, waving Sin over, "Come on in and have a seat.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Eva-Kelly: "Can we get you anything to drink?” Sin@crystyl:"I'm good, thanks" she smiles, nestling on the end of the couch Evanne Dra@annpc#557 takes a seat on one of the other chairs, with Eva-Kelly stepping over and perching on the side of the chair. Kelly-Eva wraps an arm around her before turning back to Sin, "So, how has things been - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- going for you?" Sin@crystyl:"That's actually why I wanted to speak to you both" she leans in, "I've had a breakthrough” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Eva-Kelly: "Oh? What've you discovered?” Sin@crystyl:"As I mentioned, you aren't the only ones who have been practicing to find a way to get you back. I've been channeling my own efforts as well” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"And you have a way to do it now? Or, making progress towards one?” Sin@crystyl grins, "I believe we are ready now. I've already reviewed everything with Kazra and she's happy to proceed if you both are too” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"What does this entail? Would I have to replicate what Eva did, like the Architect suggested?” Sin@crystyl:"Yes and no. The process is still as established; the problem we have is you trying to learn a lifetime of mental discipline in short time. That's where I come in” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Eva-Kelly nods, "That's good. Kelly's been making good progress, but she still needs to work a lot more to have the discipline most Betazoids are expected to in adulthood.” Sin@crystyl nods, "Even then, it's unlikely to be sufficient to perform this task given the toll it took on you - even with your own natural affinity” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Indeed. So, how are you going to help with this? Could you...lend your knowledge of how to do this to me telepathically or something?” Sin@crystyl:"In a sense. What I have been practicing will allow me to serve as a conduit of sorts - a catalyst, if you will - for your own ability” Sin@crystyl:"I should be able to form a connection with you not unlike a Vulcan mind meld insofar as it being a direct telepathic connection. Then I can serve as a focus to channel your ability as needed” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Eva-Kelly: "Sounds like it would work to me." She looks to Kelly-Eva, "You want to do it now?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "Let's give it a try." Sin@crystyl hops to her feet, "Great! All being well, you'll soon be back to your old selves!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Anything you need to set up for this? Should we move over to the couch?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Eva-Kelly: "Right, I've adopted some of your sitting habits…” Sin@crystyl shakes her head, "We'll do it in sickbay. A caveat of Dr. Meel's support was that she monitors everyone during the process and maintains medical precedence” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Eva-Kelly nods, "That's a good idea.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 and Eva-Kelly both stand, "Let's head to sickbay, then." Sin@crystyl FX | The trio arrive a short time later at a tertiary medical lab where Kazra awaits them along with a dedicated support staff. It appears they have the room reserved just for this procedure Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Kazra. I hope we're not taking up too much of your medical space.” Sin@crystyl | Kazra shakes her head and smiles, "Nonsense! I know it's easy to forget with this war we got ourselves into out here, but this ship was refit for exploration and research originally; we have an + Sin@crystyl:+ abundance of medical facilities that seldom see use outside of emergency triage!" she chuckles, "It's a welcome change to use them as intended for once" Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles and nods, "Let's hope what we record here helps people who accidentally switch bodies in the future, then.” Sin@crystyl | Kazra chuckles, shaking her head, "Let's aim more for avoiding it altogether” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Eva-Kelly chuckles, "That's probably best, yes.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"So, where do you want us?” Sin@crystyl | Kazra gestures to the empty beds, "Right over here. We just need to set you up on the monitors. Then, well, it's over to you” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 and Eva-Kelly nod and step over to the beds. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | Eva-Kelly: "Lying down, or just sitting on it?” Sin@crystyl lays down on the third bed while the nurses hook her up Sin@crystyl | Kazra: "You'll want to lay down” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods and lies down on one bed, while, Eva-Kelly takes the other. Sin@crystyl glances to the others, "Ok Kelly, Eva; exactly like before. Just close your eyes and focus on one another” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 | The two nod, closing their eyes and doing as instructed. Sin@crystyl | All goes still and quiet as the trio focus and the telepathic magic ensues... Sin@crystyl | As before, as things progress the pair feel themselves black out and drift out of consciousness… Sin@crystyl | Eva begins to wake up... Evanne Dra@annpc#557 stirs slightly before blinking and slowly trying to open her eyes. Sin@crystyl | The blurry world that is the medical lab slowly comes into focus Evanne Dra@annpc#557 takes a moment to acclimate before sitting up. She looks down at herself first, then around to see if Kelly's body is on the bed beside her. Sin@crystyl | Eva is indeed back in her old body. Kelly is still lay on the bed where Eva lay down before the procedure, out cold though Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks over for Sin and Kazra. Sin@crystyl | Sin is nowhere to be seen. Kazra... is collapsed on the floor behind her console Evanne Dra@annpc#557 rushes over to Kazra to check if she is alright. Sin@crystyl | She is unconscious, but alive Evanne Dra@annpc#557 goes over to check Kelly's readings Sin@crystyl | Kelly's condition is the same Evanne Dra@annpc#557 heads over to a panel to activate comms and see if she can reach any other doctors or nurses. Sin@crystyl FX | Bzzzt! The comm panel buzzes in error. The system is offline. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 sighs. "Of course the comm is always offline when it's needed most. I should have Kelly talk the Captain into installing some form of secondary comm system…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 tries to head out sickbay. Sin@crystyl | Outside, the hallway is eerily deserted and dim Evanne Dra@annpc#557 calls out, "Computer, respond.” Sin@crystyl FX | Silence... Evanne Dra@annpc#557 sees if she can sense anyone nearby. Sin@crystyl | Assuming her senses are restored sufficiently and she isn't too disorientated, Eva could sense the familiar presence of the crew, though as silent as the corridor suggesting they are all as Kelly + Sin@crystyl:Kazra. However she can certainly sense an unfamiliar presence as well... Evanne Dra@annpc#557 shakes her head, closing her eyes and focusing harder to try and see if the strange presence is part of her disorientation. Evanne Dra@annpc#557:rolls 44 (1-100) Sin@crystyl | Eva's pretty sure she isn't imagining it and the presence is real. It feels malicious, though she can't get an exact read on who or what it is, or where Evanne Dra@annpc#557 heads off towards the nearest turbolift to see if she can take it up to the bridge. Sin@crystyl | The turbolift is functioning, as all base systems appear to be. It would seem the ship is in lockdown Evanne Dra@annpc#557 tries to take the lift up to the bridge. Sin@crystyl | The lift works and she begins moving Evanne Dra@annpc#557 closes her eyes as the lift moves, trying to tell if the presence is getting closer or further as the lift ascends. Sin@crystyl | It's definitely getting closer. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 moves to one side of the lift cautiously, continuing to keep tabs on the presence while waiting for the sound of the lift doors opening. Sin@crystyl | The lift stops and the door hisses open, but it's not the bridge. Before she can think, Eva is yanked through the door and spun around to have her back to the wall and a hand clamped across her + Sin@crystyl:+ mouth by Sin Evanne Dra@annpc#557 struggles briefly before staring at Sin in surprise and confusion. Sin@crystyl slowly releases her hand, "So it was you! Finally! What were you thinking - going to the bridge? Are you crazy?!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"It's the first place to go to find out what's happening...which also makes it the most predictable, doesn't it?” Sin@crystyl nods, "It's also a fortified position, which they hold now along with control of the ship” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Who's they?” Sin@crystyl shakes her head, "I'm not sure. Pirates, scavengers. More of those anarchists maybe? I'm not 100% sure myself” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Did you just wake up in sickbay like I did and find everyone unconscious?” Sin@crystyl nods, "You were still out cold when I woke. Recovering I guess, from the switch. Didn't take long for me to see things weren't right though. From what I can tell, we're adrift and these - whoever + Sin@crystyl:+ they are - are trying to take the ship” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Have you seen any of them?” Sin@crystyl:"Not closely. Had a few close calls, but didn't want to risk taking them on until I know what I'm up against. All I know is that they're armed and organized” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"How did they even get on board? We have anti-transport measures. Unless they tricked us and were invited to beam over like the alternate Starfleet group…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"And how did they knock everyone except us out? We have defenses against telepathy, and any chemicals would affect us too.” Sin@crystyl shrugs, "All good questions, but right now you know about as much as I do” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"So far you haven't seen anyone else on the crew awake aside from me?” Sin@crystyl shakes her head, "I saw internal sensors and comms were offline. I thought I felt a presence earlier, but couldn't find anyone. I just kept searching until I felt your presence approaching” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "I felt it too. Something unfamiliar and malicious.” Sin@crystyl:"No, I don't mean the enemy. This felt familiar, but alone and scared. However I could not find the source so - if it wasn't you waking up - " she shrugs, "I don't know, maybe I'm just a little + Sin@crystyl:+ drained and out of sorts from the procedure still” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"That makes two of us. If our senses aren't the most reliable at the moment, where do you think would likely be the most undefended area where we might be able to find some idea of what happened? - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- Sensor access or even just sensor data. There's astrometrics...but internal sensors are probably more useful than external right now.” Sin@crystyl hrms, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I almost wish you were still Kelly. She knows these systems inside and out!" she chuckles Sin@crystyl:"All primary functions connect to engineering, so we could try there. But it's likely held by the enemy as well. Best bet to bypass the computer lockout could be to descend into the core and access + Sin@crystyl:+ it directly” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 chuckles, "Me too. I have Kelly's access code, but it's of limited use without her voice, and I don't have senior officer access.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"The computer core sounds like a good idea, though.” Sin@crystyl:"At least until we have to actually try and interact with it" she jokes dryly Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Hopefully we can manage to do something with it. Let's go.” Sin@crystyl nods, "It will be safer to use the jeffries tubes" crouching to peel open a panel and begin the long crawl... Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"At least my body has more climbing exercise through them of late... Sin@crystyl:"Always a silver lining I see" she smirks --- Sin@crystyl | Meanwhile - an undisclosed amount of time ago - Tiah lays curled up on her bed amidst a blanket of fluffy tails Sin@crystyl | Tiah stirs and begins to wake, stretching her arms and legs out with a yelping little yawn as she opens her eyes Sin@crystyl | Ears flitting high and alert, she looks around sensing something amiss and spots TQ collapsed on the floor in the next room Sin@crystyl | Tiah calls out "Kwayla!", jumping from the bed and bounding over to check on her Sin@crystyl | TQ is in the same condition as Eva found the others before, Confirmed by Tiah with a cheek held close to TQ's mouth to feel the light breath Sin@crystyl | Tiah taps TQ's combadge, "Sickbay! Sickbay! Tiah needs help!” Sin@crystyl | Predictably, no response to any of her repeated attempts. In frustration, Tiah rushes out in the corridor, pausing as she looks up and down the long hall to see collapsed crew everywhere Sin@crystyl | Tiah rushes from one to the next, checking each the same way until she's satisfied that they are all in the same conditiom Sin@crystyl | As she checks one fallen crewman, her ears pick up once more with the sound of something approaching... Sin@crystyl | Already on heightened alert and now the defensive, Tiah's instinct is to hunker back like a cornered cat, ears flitting back and forth attentively while her gaze remains firmly fixed on the corner+ Sin@crystyl:+ ahead, and the approaching unknown. Her tails rise and swish with anticipation as she backs up a step or two more on all fours, staying low either to pounce or drop and play dead like the others Sin@crystyl | As Tiah tenses ready to act, her unseen adversary emerges around the corner... "Mrow…” Sin@crystyl | Tiah tilts her head to one side, her whole body relaxing as Keelah's cat trots over with a healthy purr while it rubs it's whiskers against Tiah's poised arms Sin@crystyl | As Tiah stands & relaxes the cat departs, continuing it's territorial rounds and leaving Tiah to her own investigation... Sin@crystyl | Following an unknown amount of time spent wandering the deserted ship, Tiah comes across more activity. This time however, there is no mistaking the humanoid presence Sin@crystyl | Having wandered for so long, so almost became lax in her awareness and turned straight into the strangers. Fortunately for Tiah, her instinctive reactions are still sharp enough to avoid detection Sin@crystyl | Stranger 1: "See? What did I tell ya - it's a damned ghost ship!” Sin@crystyl | Stranger 2: "Yeah but, why exactly? I mean, /something/ gotta happened to these fools" a dull thud as he apparently kicks a downed crewman” Sin@crystyl | Stranger 3: "Not our problem! Salvage laws apply, so let's figure this alien tech out and get home sharpish!” Sin@crystyl | Stranger 2: "Umm... don't salvage law only apply if a ship's deserted? These aliens're still alive…” Sin@crystyl | Stranger 3: "But they're out cold, so it's their loss - you snooze and you lose, right!" he laughs before turning sharply and raising his rifle at the sound of something nearb Sin@crystyl | All the boarders raise their rifles, muttering, "You hear that...?” Sin@crystyl | They cautiously approach the corner where they heard soft footsteps approaching Sin@crystyl | Their attention is drawn down as a cute little nine-tailed fox trots around the corner, sitting boldly before the group and looking up at them before mimicking the behavour of the cat from earlier Sin@crystyl | One of the boarders aims his rifle at the fox, "Damned alien vermine…” Sin@crystyl | As he fires however, his ally interjects and shoves the rifle aside causing it to strike a harmless scorchmark on the wall Sin@crystyl | The fox bolts and is quickly out of sight while the shooter snarls at his ally, "What the hell?!” Sin@crystyl | The leader scowls back, forcable shoving the shot rifle aside and glaring at the shooter, "Idiot! Exotic pets can be worth more salvaged components” Sin@crystyl | The shooter stops and thinks, realizing his mistake, "That thing could make a nice little bonus for us…” Sin@crystyl | After a nod from his boss, he jogs off in chase of the fox Sin@crystyl | He somehow manages to catch up to the small animal, having it backed into a corner as he slowly approaches - arms outstretched to snatch it up Sin@crystyl | Before he can make a grab however, he is suddenly whisked away in a transporter beam Sin@crystyl | The fox looks around calmly as a nearby access hatch rattles open Sin@crystyl | Miadrone hovers out giving a smug 'beep boop' Sin@crystyl | The fox tilts it's head, exactly as Tiah did earlier when meeting the cat. Mia ripples into view as the drone rises to it's normal cruising height, "Tiah? We did not know you could alter your+ Sin@crystyl:+ form!” Sin@crystyl | The fox morphs and grows back into Tiah, "Neither did Tiah! It was... a defense mechanism, yes! Tiah's defense mechanism kicked in!” Sin@crystyl | Tiah shakes her head back into focus, "Please, Mia has to come and help Kwayla!” Sin@crystyl | Mia sets a hand on Tiah's shoulder, "We can not right now Tiah, we have to help everyone together. You must stay safe and hidden, oui?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah stares a moment before giving a nod, "Tiah will protect Kwayla!” Sin@crystyl | Mia smiles, "And we must secure the ship. We are uncertain what happened to everyone still, but we have protocols we can enact to lockdown the ship to stop these people” Sin@crystyl | Tiah has a blank look before smiling and nodding, "Mia will do her job. Tiah will do Tiah's job!" tails swirling excitedly as she bounds off the way she came Sin@crystyl | Mia smiles as she watches a moment before she is interrupted by another 'bweeoo' from Miadrone. She nods, "Oui, we have much to work to do!" and ripples back out of view as the drone moves off... --- Sin@crystyl | After a long crawl through the tubes, Sin & Eva arrive at a junction about halfway up the several-decks deep computer core Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Finally made it..." she takes a deep breath, "I really wish I were still Kelly…” Sin@crystyl steps over to the railing and looks down, "Damn, I've seen it on the schematics but... damn..." Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "It's a lot of data and programs…” Sin@crystyl:"Well, there must be some means around here for us to bypass the lockdown and see what's going on” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks around, trying to see if she can remember anything Sin@crystyl | Eva inevitably finds a panel where she is able to gain access to internal sensors raw data Evanne Dra@annpc#557 taps away at the panel, "Okay...looks like I can access the sensor data from this.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks through the recent data, trying to make sense of things Sin@crystyl joins her to see Sin@crystyl | It seems that things went quiet several days earlier. Shortly afterwards the ship dropped out of warp and all main power shut down Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Several days ago? We've been out that long?” Sin@crystyl | More recently, the security lockdown was implemented before a few dozen alien lifesigns seemed to appear from one of the docking airlocks having presumably cut their way in by force Sin@crystyl:"Apparently so..." checks the data, "Hey, that was about the time we went to the medical lab I think... Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Looks like they only got inside the ship recently though. Why would they wait that long after disabling the crew?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"The lifesigns appeared from one of the airlocks, so at least that explains how they got in. But it doesn't take several days to figure out if you can't transport into a ship, you can use a shuttle - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- and cut your way through…” Sin@crystyl:"If all power went down then we've been adrift for some days. Maybe that's just when they found us” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"If they just found us, then how did the crew all fall unconscious a few days ago?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks the data from when everything went quiet to see if there's any indications Sin@crystyl | There's not a lot more on sensors. Just sporadic access panel openings and system adjustments being registered. Mostly from inside jeffries tubes rather than front-end consoles Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Looks like someone was using access panels in jeffries tubes. A saboteur, maybe? But if they knocked out the whole crew, there has to be some sign of chemical release or however they did it…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks to see if there's any indication of what they were tampering with at the consoles Sin@crystyl:"I don't think so. Most of this seems more like general maintenance, and it's all before the visitors arrived and the lockdown implemented” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Good point," she looks around to see if there are any PADDs or replicators in the area Sin@crystyl | No replicators here, but there are PADD's laying around from the maintenance crew Evanne Dra@annpc#557 takes one of the PADDs and sees if she can copy the relevant sensor data onto it so they can access it easily. Sin@crystyl | She can! Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles and holds out the PADD to Sin, "At least we have sensor data, and a better idea of what's going on than we did before. Now, how do we undo the lockdown…” Sin@crystyl:"I suspect we'd need the right clearance for that. Besides, it may be a good thing at the moment” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "Yeah, we probably should get rid of the intruders before we take the ship off lockdown. But the problem is with it on lockdown, there's not much we can do with the ship systems either…” Sin@crystyl:"Therein lies the dilemma” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks through the sensor data again to see if anyone else might be up and about the ship aside from them and the intruders Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"We probably don't want to hunt them down with just the two of us, but I'm checking to see if anyone else might be awake.” Sin@crystyl | She can see signs of movement before the visitors arrived, but of the two distinct sets of movement only one has a biosignature Evanne Dra@annpc#557 sees if she can discern the biosignature Sin@crystyl | It's pretty easy to distinguish as Tiah's, being a unique lifeform Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Looks like this one is Tiah. And the other doesn't have a biosignature. That's...it has to be one of the drones. Mia, Sayu or Relay?” Sin@crystyl:"Makes sense! Maybe the other drones are around somewhere too if so!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I'd imagine so. If the ship systems are running, they would be too. They shouldn't be affected by anything that affects organic lifeforms.” Sin@crystyl:"So what do you think; try to rally the drones and mount a counter-offensive to take back the ship?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Sayu has fairly advanced defensive systems, and Tiah is capable of defending herself too, though I remember Kelly mentioning that she usually causes a lot of collateral damage. In either case I think - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- the drones and Tiah should be able to help. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks more recent sensor data for where Tiah and the non-biological movement is. Sin@crystyl | The last of Tiah's movement settles in her quarters. The drones are more difficult to track however as they pop up sporadically when interacting with the ship or opening access panel Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"It's harder to find the drones, but Tiah's in her quarters. We can start there.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"At least it looks like Tiah's in her quarters…” Sin@crystyl:"Well that's a start I guess” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "Let's head to Tiah's quarters, then!” Sin@crystyl nods, checking their route and heading out Evanne Dra@annpc#557 remarks as they walk, "I'm pretty sure Tiah and the drones were some of the few who were awake when that telepathic being froze everyone in the subspace pocket.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Along with Emma and I, as we were the first to get the implants. Maybe this is some form of telepathic attack.” Sin@crystyl:"I think so, yeah. I hate to say it Eva, but... I think this might be our fault…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "I was going to say...you mentioned the timing was close to when we entered sickbay?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"And there's no way for someone on the outside to bypass our implants, but all our implants are tuned to the same frequency so we can still read and affect each other…” Sin@crystyl:"Yeah. And seeing how it seems that only us and Tiah are awake so far, the one common factor is our strong telepathy” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"If it is telepathy based, I wonder if our Lupan guest is still awake as well. Though it may not be helpful asking him to fight…” Sin@crystyl:"I'm not sure it's straight telepathic ability, otherwise the Captain would be awake too, among others” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "Tiah and the drones have proven resistant to telepathy so far. The drones for obvious reasons...but maybe it has something to do with being able to resist it rather than being telepathic - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- themselves. Which is why I think Azatul might still be awake. As for us...could it be because we caused it?” Sin@crystyl:"Possible, but I'm sure we'd have seen movement from him on sensors were that so. That's why I think it's more down to the pure telepathic power, for want of a better term” Sin@crystyl:"I think Starfleet calls it... an Esper rating or something?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"True, it could be. I don't know if you've been rated, but mine is much higher than Betazoids on average. But if that's the case, Luthril and the Architect might be awake somewhere as well, but we - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- haven't seen movement from them…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Unless...their actual Esper rating isn't that high, but they've honed their ability through a lot of training?” Sin@crystyl:"I don't know, maybe? I'm just stretching to find reasons to fit the facts here is all and it's the best explanation I've got at the minute” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "Me too. Let's see if we can find Tiah and the drones and deal with the immediate problem first. Maybe that'll shed light on what happened as well.” Sin@crystyl pauses as they turn a corner, "Speaking of shedding light, what do you make of this...?” Sin@crystyl has found the scorch mark on the wall where the scavenger first shot at fox-Tiah Evanne Dra@annpc#557 steps over to the scorch mark, "Good spot." She looks around to see if there's any unconscious crew Sin@crystyl | Nobody close enough to seem associated with the mark Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Doesn't look like someone was making repairs or something when this happened…” Sin@crystyl:"And whoever it was got away” Sin@crystyl stands and turns, "Tiah's biosigns haven't left her quarters since they went back there right...?" Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks the PADD, "From the recent sensor data, the last place her movement was seen were her quarters.” Sin@crystyl clearly suspects the worst, "We should find her…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "Come on. I hope she's not hurt…” Sin@crystyl follows as they pick up the pace to find Tiah Evanne Dra@annpc#557 rings the doorbell once they make it to Tiah's quarters Sin@crystyl | No answer Evanne Dra@annpc#557 closes her eyes, trying to sense Tiah Sin@crystyl | They can both sense Tiah's presence inside Evanne Dra@annpc#557 tries to reach out to Tiah telepathically, <Tiah? Can you hear me?> Sin@crystyl | She doesn't get a direct response in such a manner, but bombarded with thoughts and feelings about defending and protecting and guarding. It's quite the flood Evanne Dra@annpc#557 takes a step back, "Okay, that's...a lot of emotion.” Sin@crystyl nods, rubbing her brow, "She must be terrified” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 tries again, <Tiah, it's Eva. We're here to help. Can you let us in?> Sin@crystyl | The same occurs Sin@crystyl:"It's like she's running on pure instinct, not conscious thought” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "We need to reach her somehow…” Sin@crystyl steps over to the door panel, "Allow me” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 steps back Sin@crystyl prises the panel off the wall and reaches in, fiddling the chips behind it. A moment later, the door lock pops open though the door only opens a crack Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles, "It's good to have someone with your skills with us, Sin.” Sin@crystyl grins, "Glad they still come in handy around here" she grabs one side of the door, "Give me a hand with this” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 grabs the other side of the door and helps pull it open Sin@crystyl | Between the pair they are easily able to manually force the door to reveal a darkened room within Evanne Dra@annpc#557 calls into the room, "Tiah? Can you hear us?” Sin@crystyl | No response, just a vicious snarling sound Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I'm not sure we should just walk in. Tiah might think we're with the intruders if she's operating on instinct…” Sin@crystyl:"We have to get through to her” Sin@crystyl focuses on the details in the room as her eyes adjust to the dimmed lighting, "I think I see something over there in the corner” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks over to the corner as well, trying to spot what Sin sees Sin@crystyl | The shape of a body on the floor is apparent, though something seems off about it.. Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"That looks like a person. Could it be Tee?” Sin@crystyl:"Maybe..." she tries edging in a little, crouching, "Tiah...?” Sin@crystyl | More snarling, accompanied by the sudden glare of shining golden eyes reflecting the light of the hall behind them. They are small and perched atop TQ's still body. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 follows in slowly, "Wait, is that…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"It can't be, that's too small to be Tiah…” Sin@crystyl | The eyes seem to lower to the ground a little as they draw near to reveal a snarling white furred vulpine. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 tries to sense if the feelings are indeed coming from the snarling vulpine. Sin@crystyl | There's no doubt about it, that's the source of the feelings. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 slowly stands, raising her hands, "Tiah? I'm Eva, I'm a friend of T'Quila. Do you recognize me?” Sin@crystyl | The vulpine holds it's ground with a snarl, following the standing movement with it's gaze Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I know this is very scary, but we're here to help. Remember in the subspace pocket when T'Quila and everyone else was frozen as well? I was there to help as well.” Sin@crystyl | The vulpine continues to look up at her, giving a slight head tilt as it's ears flit back and forth Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles, "I'm not here to harm you. We can help T'Quila, but we need your help to do that.” Sin@crystyl | The vulpine seems to relax some, sitting back a little a curious whine Sin@crystyl:"I think you're getting through to her" Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"We need you to help us to get these intruders off the ship, and then we can figure out what happened together. And we can wake T'Quila.” Sin@crystyl | The vulpine turns it's gaze back to TQ briefly before turning to the pair and stepping fully into view Sin@crystyl | They are greeted with the sight of white fur with red streaks through it, before it grows and morphs into the more familiar sight of Tiah Sin@crystyl watches with amazement before standing Evanne Dra@annpc#557 watches as well before breaking into a wide smile, "Tiah! How were you able to do that?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah looks around, squinting as her eyes adjust, "Tiah is not certain... But Tiah thinks it's a defense mechanism” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"So it happens by instinct, whenever you or Tee are in trouble?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah nods, "Something like that" glancing back to TQ again, "But you can help Kwayla, yes?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"We think so, but we can't do anything with the ship on lockdown, and we don't want to take the ship off lockdown when the intruders are still here.” Sin@crystyl | Tiah looks between the two, "That sounds... difficult” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "We need your help, and we want to find the drones too. I think together we can take the ship back.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Have you seen any of the drones around? Mia, Sayu or Relay?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah nods eagerly, "Yes, Tiah saw Mia before! But... that feels like it was a while ago…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"You have? Where did you find her?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah: "It was after Tiah first woke up. In the corridor where Tiah found the invaders and they tried to kill Tiah!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 glances to Sin, "That must've been the mark we saw," she looks back to Tiah. "Are you alright, Tiah?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah nods meekly, "Tiah is fine. It has been quiet and scary for so long now…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I can only imagine. Do you want to come with us to look for the drones and protect the ship, or do you want to stay here with Tee?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah glances back to TQ again, clearly torn on what to do, "Can... Tiah help?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "You were able to create those energy blasts, right?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah nods proudly, "Tiah can help fight!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks to Sin, "Is there anything you can do to make Tee safer in here while Tiah is out?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I doubt the intruders would happen upon this room, and they haven't harmed any of the other unconscious crew so far. But is there a way to...relock the door or something?” Sin@crystyl:"I can try!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods to Tiah, "We'll make sure Tee is secure in her room and drive these intruders away. Then there shouldn't be anyone to harm her, and all we have to do is wake everyone." She gives a - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- reassuring smile before heading out and waving Tiah along. Sin@crystyl | Tiah gives a confident nod as she follows them out, a final glance back to TQ Sin@crystyl is already outside the door, eyes closed in focus on the task at hand Evanne Dra@annpc#557 lets Sin do her thing as she looks to Tiah, "Did you just happen to run into Mia, or do you think she found you?” Sin@crystyl | The door slams shut behind them quite aggressively. The metal edges glowing brightly as they seem to superheat themselves and weld shut Sin@crystyl | Tiah thinks, "Mia... found Tiah, yes! Because the invader was chasing when Mia made him disappear first. She was going to make the ship safe and try to fix things” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"That must've been when she activated the lockdown…” Sin@crystyl concludes by kneeling down and retrieving the discarded door control panel, carefully setting it back in place, "There” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks back to the door, "That...was more than tampering with some wires…” Sin@crystyl turns to Eva, "Hey, I do breaking in. Not locking up! It's the best I could think of…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 chuckles, "It looks pretty sealed. Good work, Sin.” Sin@crystyl:"She's officially the safest the person on the ship now Tiah, so you don't have t- woah!” Sin@crystyl jumps as she's suddenly embraced by a bounding hug, fluffy tails and all Sin@crystyl stiffens with uncertainty, "Um..." peering to Eva through the sea of fluff and mouthing a silent 'help!' Evanne Dra@annpc#557 laughs, "It's her way of thanking you!” Sin@crystyl gingerly pats Tiah on the shoulder, "It's all good Tiah. Now let's go, um... fight the invaders off, right?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah steps back and gives an affirmative nod, "Tiah is ready!" Sin@crystyl turns back to Eva, "Alright. So now just to figure out how to get these invaders off our ship” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, checking her PADD, "We can find their positions- or at least last known positions, through the sensor data." She checks how many of them are there” Sin@crystyl | There look to be around 25 of them. 8 on the bridge, 10 in engineering, and the rest moving about the ship. Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I see 25 of them, mostly concentrated on the bridge and engineering. Maybe we can pick off the ones around the ship and hope the rest leave their fortified positions or decide to leave?” Sin@crystyl:"I wouldn't be too sure of that. I've done my share of raids and there's one universal rule; that you communicate. Those patrols will likely miss regular check ins if we interfere with them” Sin@crystyl:"So yeah, we'd likely draw them out. But they'd be on heightened alert so we need a solid plan to deal with them” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "True." She looks to Tiah, "You ran into one of the patrols, right?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah nods Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Do you remember how many there were in the group?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah thinks a moment, counting on her fingertips, "3... 4 maybe. But Mia made one disappear maybe 3 again?" she tilts her head with uncertainty Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Mia...made one disappear?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah nods eagerly, "Mhmm! It was very pretty and sparkly too!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 chuckles, "She must've transported one away.” Sin@crystyl:"Makes sense. She'd probably have tried to move them to the brig, but if they've gained control since then that one will likely be out by now” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I think Sayu should be able to handle 3 or 4 of them. He's armed and fast and hard to hit, not to mention he has sensors. If he's still around...maybe we can have him help out with the patrols.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Then the intruders might just think it's some form of automated defense and not expect us to be awake.” Sin@crystyl:"But all the possible drone movement seemed to drop off the sensors. Where do we start looking for them?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks the readings again to see when they dropped off Sin@crystyl | There's no exact read given the sporadic nature of their appearances anyway, but the last of the indicative movement was a couple of days ago Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks if there's any correlation between when the intruders arrived Sin@crystyl | No further readings beyond the initial arrival several days ago Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I wonder if they made themselves invisible to sensors somehow. If Mia was responsible for the lockdown, maybe she made it so that the sensors can't pick her up.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Or...is there any part of the ship that doesn't have internal sensor coverage?” Sin@crystyl shakes her head, "I don't think so. Either Mia and the other drones are masking their presence and not interacting with access hatches at all. Or they were taken out…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"The intruders couldn't have gotten all of them...they're smaller, more nimble and know the ship, and there's only 25 of them so there's no way they can sweep the whole ship very effectively…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"They have to be masking their presence somehow, and doing a good job of it. Maybe too good of a job…” Sin@crystyl:"Which begs the question; where are they and what are they doing?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks through the sensor data again, seeing if it could give her any idea of what the drones are up to. Sin@crystyl | Nothing useful in the data Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Definitely too good of a job," she looks at Sin, then Tiah. "We know Mia though, and you said she was going to make the ship safe. So they must be doing something to try and work against the - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- intruders other than just putting the ship on lockdown. But they probably know attacking them directly is too dangerous too.” Sin@crystyl:"Interfering with their attempts to gain control of the ship. Setting traps for them. That sort of thing” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"And where would be the best place to interfere with them without being found?” Sin@crystyl:"Any number of places! Fiddling with any of the environmental or power systems could trip them up. Shutting down or rerouting turbolifts, messing with grav plating to name but a few” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "That doesn't narrow it down as much as I hoped…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"If we can't find the drones...you think we might've caused this by accident. Do you think we might be able to wake everyone? Or at least someone.” Sin@crystyl:"Everyone could be risky. Some could find themselves disorientated and staring down the barrel of a gun” Sin@crystyl:"Individuals... I don't know, maybe? I'm not even sure what happened so it's impossible to say” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Me neither. I was hoping to get rid of the intruders first, and then see if we can wake them…” Sin@crystyl:"There's always the hard way; hit the armoury then go hunting” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks the sensors to see if there's any movement near the armoury. Sin@crystyl | Nothing at present around the nearest to their current location Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I don't see anyone around the armoury. We should do /something/, and I think getting armed is better than going through the sensor data more than we already have to try and find the drones.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"At least with weapons we'll be more prepared if the intruders find us first.” Sin@crystyl:"Sounds good to me” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods. "Let's go to the closest armoury, then.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 begins making her way towards it. Sin@crystyl | The trio have no difficulty accessing one of the armouries and preparing themselves to fend off a seige Evanne Dra@annpc#557 takes a phaser rifle and a pistol, "I'm not exactly a security officer...but better to have something than nothing.” Sin@crystyl:"Between this and our natural abilities, we should have no problem with these invaders!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I hope so!" She looks to Tiah, "You ready as well?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah gives a cheery nod, content without any weapons in her hand. Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Let's go find them, then. Think we should hit one of the concentrated areas first, or go for a patrol?” Sin@crystyl hrms, "The bridge is not easily accessible on the quiet so our chances of taking them with surprise are minimal. We might be able to get a jump on those in engineering, but one misplaced shot and + Sin@crystyl:+ that's bye-bye Valley Forge” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Especially with Tiah's energy projections…” Sin@crystyl:"We could target patrols and draw them out to us. But where can we setup an ambush to our advantage?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"We probably don't want somewhere too big or with too many entrances, since they have more people than us…” Sin@crystyl:"True, but they won't all be on us at once so we'll have time. Besides, we have the distinct advantage of both local knowledge and telepathy!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"That we do! Maybe a regular quarters area, with rooms we can back into if we need to, and nothing essential that could be damaged by accident.” Sin@crystyl:"Sounds good” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Let's take down one of the patrols and try and draw them into one of those halls, then.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Hopefully the drones have access to the sensor data and might see what's going on…” Sin@crystyl nods and checks their sensor feed, "Deck 8 section 15 looks good” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods back and makes towards the section. Sin@crystyl | As they draw closer towards their target location, Sin pulls them to one side of the hall, whispering, "They should be coming around that corner any time now. I'll steer them this way so wait for + Sin@crystyl:+ them to pass” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 holds her rifle ready but waits patiently Sin@crystyl focuses on projecting a series of illusions into the minds of the patrollers; making them see walls where there are none, including in front of the ambush team Sin@crystyl | A pair of nondescript alien mercs stroll past casually Evanne Dra@annpc#557 aims her rifle and glances at Sin Sin@crystyl waits for the opportune moment before silently taking a step out and taking aim at one of them Evanne Dra@annpc#557 follows suit with Sin, stepping out beside her as well Sin@crystyl is about to fire when she feels a sudden surge of power from behind them Sin@crystyl is barely able to turn her gaze before a ball of crackling telekinetic energy hurtles between her and Eva straight at the patrol Evanne Dra@annpc#557 jumps to the side and looks back to see where it came from. Sin@crystyl | The energy explodes violently upon impact, launching the invaders against opposing walls and distorting the walls themselves Sin@crystyl | Tiah nestles back to her feet from a slight levitation, standing with a smug and proud look, "Tiah does not like invaders!” Sin@crystyl slowly looks her over, "No kidding... remind me never to piss you off” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "I'm glad we brought you along, Tiah…” Sin@crystyl glances at the rifle in her hand briefly wondering if they even needed to bother with them, "Well, that should certainly get their attention” Sin@crystyl moves to investigate one of the fallen bodies, but finds nothing of consequence Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"That it should. Time to prepare for more of them to come, then.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 steps over to Sin, "Any idea who they are?” Sin@crystyl shakes her head, "Too far from my old turf to have eyes on freelancers. Don't look particularly organized though, could just be an opportunistic scavver crew” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "That makes sense, given they boarded a good while after everyone was already knocked out." Sin@crystyl:"Come on. Help me move the bodies out of sight” Sin@crystyl slings the rifle and grabs one by the ankles, dragging him to the nearest quarters Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods and grabs one of the bodies to pull it into the room as well. Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I'll defer to your expertise in setting up the ambush for the next group. You definitely have more experience with this than I do," she chuckles. Sin@crystyl smirks, dumping the body unceremoniously to the floor, "Technically more with avoiding things like this, but yeah” Sin@crystyl:"One thing I did notice from projecting that illusion…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smirks, "At least you know how they think.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"What did you notice?" Sin@crystyl:"They are weak willed and susceptible. If I focus my efforts on illusions to confuse and control them, perhaps you can peer more closely into their minds to gain insights” Sin@crystyl:"I know it's not your way - without permission and all - but... I think circumstances prevail” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "I don't like it, but we need every advantage we can get. And I have a feeling they wouldn't think twice about doing it to us if they could.” Sin@crystyl:"Exactly. So now... we wait" --- Sin@crystyl FX | The team don't have to wait long for a second patrol of 4 invaders to come and investigate. All armed and alert Sin@crystyl projects the illusion of a solid wall in place of the doorway Evanne Dra@annpc#557 readies her rifle again, but stretches out with her mind first to probe the intruders and see what she can learn... Sin@crystyl | She can tell they are fearful and out of their depth with this whole operation. It would seem they are more refugees who have turned to the more desperate methods of survival, and done as well + Sin@crystyl:+ with their endeavours as they have with justifying increasingly questionable actions Sin@crystyl | There is a growing feeling among their crew that they should cut their losses here and run with all their prizes already stowed on board their ship, though a fair share still feel the lure of + Sin@crystyl:+ claiming a vessel so superior to their own Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks to Sin, <You're right. They're opportunistic, and desperate. We might be able to scare them away without having to take them all down.> Sin@crystyl dips her head a little <It's your call> Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, <Try to immobilize one of them. Unless Tiah gets them all first…> Sin@crystyl reaches out with her thoughts beyond the initial illusion, first making it seem like the corridor is slowly turning dark - panel by panel towards the ground Sin@crystyl waits for them to grow fearful and start backing up before reaching out a hand and mentally grasping the feet of one at random, rooting him to the spot Sin@crystyl | A panicked yell is heard and the group grow increasingly errati Sin@crystyl | Tiah however has other ideas and hurls a series of attacks at the distracted group, straight through the illusionary wall protecting them Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Tiah, try to keep one-...is it too late?” Sin@crystyl slumps, letting her efforts drop and the illusions fade, "Little bit..." she turns a slight unimpressed scowl to Tiah Sin@crystyl | Tiah again stands proudly and justified Sin@crystyl:"You... really got this whole territorial thing going on, don't you?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah: "Tiah will /not/ be sold as an exotic pet!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Was...that what they wanted to do with you?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah clearly directs that towards one of the downed invaders in particular Sin@crystyl | Tiah nods, "That is why they chased Tiah" Sin@crystyl:"Opportunistic indeed. They may have started as refugees and scavengers, but they're just outright pirates now Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I might have an idea for how to get rid of them without just luring them all here.” Sin@crystyl:"Sounds promising” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods outside, "They have communications equipment on them, right?” Sin@crystyl:"They must have, yeah” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Let's get them into a turbolift leading up to the bridge.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"One each should do, no need to grab all of them.” Sin@crystyl:"Ok…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I don't think they'll negotiate with us, but with a little intimidation, we might be able to get them off the ship without any more violence.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 drags one of the bodies towards the turbolift. Sin@crystyl:"What about their 'prizes' they already took? We can't let them get away with... who knows what” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I'm hoping to work out a deal. But if not, I'm sure I can scare them into returning what they already took.” Sin@crystyl:"Alright. You're prepared I trust, for this going south and turning into a shooting match on the bridge, right?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles, "We're not going to the bridge. Deck Two.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 searches the bodies for comm equipment as the lift ascends Sin@crystyl | She finds a handheld communicator. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 takes all the communicators save one and notes the frequency of that one before leaving it on top of the bodies and waving for everyone to exit as the lift reaches its destination. Sin@crystyl follows her out, watching Eva's plan unfold with a mix of curiosity and admiration Evanne Dra@annpc#557 calls out "Bridge" before quickly stepping out herself and activating the communicator to contact the frequency of the one she left on the lift, so the lift would open on the bridge to the group - Evanne Dra@annpc#557 - of bodies and ringing communicator on top. She gives Tiah a glance, "If that door opens again, get ready for more invaders. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 waits for someone to answer the communicator. Sin@crystyl | Tiah gives a firm nod and stands prone, glaring at the door Sin@crystyl | The communicator channel opens to an uncertain silence Evanne Dra@annpc#557 speaks into the communicator, "I'd think of something scary to say, but I trust you get our message clearly enough.” Sin@crystyl | A gruff voice responds, "What?! Who is this, what have you done to my people?!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"This is our ship, and you're trespassing. What did you expect?” Sin@crystyl | Voice: "It /was/ your ship. Now it's ours! That means you're stowaways on /my/ ship!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Is that what you think?" She closes her eyes, focusing on the mind of one of the intruders on the bridge above them, trying to do as the Architect taught and access the Failsafe to seize control - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- of their body. Evanne Dra@annpc#557:rolls 27 (1-100) Sin@crystyl | For reasons unknown, Eva is unable to gain sufficient focus on any one individual up there Evanne Dra@annpc#557 tries to access all their minds instead to project herself as a shadowy figure before them. Sin@crystyl | Being perfectly aware of the bridge and it's layout, Eva is comfortably able to project the image, as is echoed by the surprised reactions over comms as well as a few panicked blaster bolts Evanne Dra@annpc#557 continues speaking to them telepathically through the projection, <You are not in control here. We both know that. You seek to project a sense of confidence and power, but your minds are an open - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- book to me. You are out of your depth.> Sin@crystyl | Voice: "What... sorcery is this?!” Sin@crystyl | Voice 2: "Ignore it, it's just smoke and mirrors!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<Smoke and mirrors did not take out your friends. It is true, this is a mental projection. But we are capable of much more if you force our hand.> Sin@crystyl | Voice: "Don't listen to it, they're just trying to scare us!” Sin@crystyl | Voice 2: "I don't know. Look what they did to the others…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<I do not want you to force my hand. I understand why you are doing this. You are desperate. Survival is an instinct natural to any being.> Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<If you will return what you have taken and leave, I am willing to give you some of our supplies so this operation was not in vain. I am only offering it once.> Sin@crystyl | Voice: "Survival of the fittest! And your crew clearly aren't that now!” Sin@crystyl | Voice 2: "Wait! What are you doing? Don't make it angry!” Sin@crystyl | Voice: "Don't you see? They can't do anything to us! If these threats meant anything, they'd face us in person not hide behind these images!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<If you think we cannot do anything to you, you have but to look upon your crewmates I returned to you.> Sin@crystyl | Voice address Eva, "You heard me! You think you're so tough?! Come out and face us properly..." sneering, "...I /promise/ we'll be nice…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<As I have said, I am extending you a deal to ensure this trip was not in vain. I suggest you take it. If you don't, you have but to look upon your friends to know what awaits you instead.> Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<I pity you. But do not mistake my pity for cowardice. You know how to contact me when you've made your decision.> Evanne Dra@annpc#557 dispels the illusion with a puff of smoke Evanne Dra@annpc#557 glances to Sin and Tiah uncertainly, "Let's hope that does the trick…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 waits for them to contact her on the communicator again Sin@crystyl:"I wouldn't hold your breath…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I can't seem to reach them individually for some reason. Maybe they are like those Anarchists, already under Horde influence or something…” Sin@crystyl:"Possible" she nods, "Maybe th-” Sin@crystyl | The turbolift door opens to reveal three invaders. Though the ever alert Tiah does her job and blasts the group as soon as they appear Sin@crystyl jumps at the sudden explosion beside her Evanne Dra@annpc#557 jumps back as well before sighing, "Well, at least that's three more down.” Sin@crystyl:"I think we can take that as their response to the carrot. Now I think we need to use the stick” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"It was worth a try…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"We're not sure where the previous group came from, but that's three down from the bridge, so there's a maximum of five left up there.” Sin@crystyl:"We can take 5! Come on, I have an idea” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods and steps into the lift, "I'll leave this part to your expertise again.” Sin@crystyl steps into the lift and slumps a couple of the bodies on top of each other in the middle, standing on them and stretching up to evac hatch Sin@crystyl:rolls 53 (1-100) Sin@crystyl still has to go to tippy toes but stubbornly manages to reach without further assistance. Sin@crystyl pulls herself up and looks around before peering back in, upside down, and extending a hand, "Come on Eva. We can get the element of surprise from here” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks up and smiles, "Good idea." She tries to pull herself up as well Sin@crystyl "The pair are soon nestled either side of the hatch Sin@crystyl | Tiah steps into the lift, peering up at them, "Is there space up there for Tiah also?” Sin@crystyl smirks and shakes her head, "Sorry Tiah but I have another job for you! Think you can take your fox form again?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah smiles and nods Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I think I see what you're trying to do…” Sin@crystyl grins, "Perfect! Now just sit there on top of the bodies and face the door. When it opens and the invaders approach, I want you to jump through them and go hide across the bridge, ok?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah nods an affirmative before melting down into her fox form. Hopping up on top of the bodies she paws the carcass some and circles before settling into a proud upright sitting position Sin@crystyl smirks at the artistry of the deception before calling for the bridge and pulling up out of sight with her rifle ready. Sin@crystyl looks to Eva, "Tiah should draw them into a bottleneck at the door, then the sudden move will turn their backs to us. Like shooting Targ in a pit!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles, "Good idea." Sin@crystyl FX | The turbolift rides up to the bridge. Doors opening to reveal the cute fuzzy fox as planned Sin@crystyl | The invaders approach - cautious and confused by the sight Sin@crystyl | Amid murmurs between the invaders, Tiah-fox looks up them before bounding forwards, all nine tails fluttering behind her as she lands and darts across the bridge Evanne Dra@annpc#557 waits patiently for the opportunity when the invaders turn away... Sin@crystyl | The invaders scramble to turn and try to catch here, prompting the others into action Sin@crystyl pokes her head down through the hatch and opens fire, with room for Eva to do the same alongside her Evanne Dra@annpc#557 pokes down with Sin as well, opening fire when she does. Sin@crystyl | The pair make short work of the scrambling pirates Sin@crystyl drops down and steps out onto the bridge, "That wasn't so bad" she looks around, "Tiah, you can come out now” Sin@crystyl | Tiah pops up from behind the tactical console, "Tiah did good?” Sin@crystyl smiles, "Yes, Tiah did very good” Sin@crystyl | Tiah beams proudly Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles, "Tiah did very good! Thank you.” Sin@crystyl:"Well that's one lot taken care of. Now just to drive the rest of them off. Any ideas?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 steps over to a console and checks to see if the bridge consoles are on lockdown as well. Sin@crystyl | Everything is indeed in total lockdown. Sin@crystyl | The pirates were seemingly trying to override things and gain control of the ship, but to no avail. Sin@crystyl | The bridge itself isn't in the best shape, with various access panels and consoles forced open by the pirates in their efforts, not to mention a series of blaster scorches across the viewscreen + Sin@crystyl:+ where they shot at Eva's projection Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Looks like everything is as locked down here as everywhere else. Not much we can do up here. The ones in engineering are going to be a problem…” Sin@crystyl:"Yeah…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I suspect one of them here was probably the leader. See if you can find anything.” Sin@crystyl begins searching the bodies Evanne Dra@annpc#557 starts searching as well, trying to find the leader and hopefully something useful or at least more information about these people and the ship they came in. Sin@crystyl | The most they manage to find on the leader is a stolen PADD he was using to inventory their loot Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks to see what they looted and if anything was particularly important. Sin@crystyl | They've certainly been busy stripping valuable engine components, medical supplies & equipment, even the foodstores have been all but emptied Sin@crystyl | More troublesome however is the ordnance they seem to have focused on, emptying the bulk of the VF's torpedo complement as well as a collection of small arms they've scraped from security personnel. Sin@crystyl | There are notes about prioritizing extraction of replicators, even transferring Eon if they can't take VF itself Sin@crystyl | Finally a note 'not to forget the crates outside the ship, and a very big /not/ to unlock them again! Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"They've certainly been trying to take everything they can," she shows Sin the final note, "What'd you make of this?” Sin@crystyl:"Huh... I don't know, fragile materials maybe? Something radioactive from engineering? But then, how would they have got it in the crate…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Could it be...the drones? We haven't seen movement from them for a while, and I'm sure these pirates would be interested in capturing them intact…” Sin@crystyl:"Ooh good thinking! That would certainly explain things” Sin@crystyl:"Maybe we should try and get down there and see. If it is them, they can release the lockdown and help us remove the intruders from everywhere else” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "That's what I was hoping for. And if not...I'm not sure how many of them are still in their own ship but I think having access to the airlock and potentially their ship could come in handy.” Sin@crystyl:"A valuable bargaining chip if nothing else" she smirks Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Exactly. Come on, let's head to the airlock.” Sin@crystyl nods, waving Tiah along as she turns to follow Eva. Sin@crystyl | The group carefully make their way to the breached airlock without incident Sin@crystyl | Upon arrival they find the corridor littered with stripped and stolen equipment & supplies waiting to be loaded out onto their ship Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"That's a lot of things we're going to have to sort back out…” Sin@crystyl:"Better that than having source them all over again out here” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Agreed. Now where are those crates…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 also looks around for a tricorder among the equipment. Sin@crystyl:"Must be around here somewhere..." she mutters, beginning her own search Sin@crystyl | Eva easily finds a tricorder in an open box of engineering tools. But they are interrupted before finding the crates by the feeling of an approach from the other side of the airlock. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 quickly moves against the wall and readies her rifle. Sin@crystyl does the same while Tiah just sort of looks around some before darting back around the corner as the airlock opens Sin@crystyl | Two more invaders stroll out and eye the equipment, "What next?" "I dunno, eugh, something light though! I'm tired of humping torpedoes around!” Sin@crystyl:"Aww, you boys deserve a break" she purrs from their side Sin@crystyl | The pair both turn to Sin, startled. She drops one with a heartless point blank shot Evanne Dra@annpc#557 raises her rifle and fires at the second. Sin@crystyl:"Well at least they won't be loading any more up” Sin@crystyl:"Let's find these crates fast before more turn up” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods and sets the tricorder to idly scan for movement and lifesigns while she looks around for the crates. Sin@crystyl | It doesn't take much searching before Eva notices a few special cargo containers. Sin@crystyl | They are magnetically sealed and forcefielded units normally used to transfer dangerous material. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks to see if the tricorder can pick up anything with the force field active. Sin@crystyl | The containers are impervious to scans Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I was hoping I could check what was inside..." Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks to see if she can open the container without any special authorization, but doesn't open it just yet. Sin@crystyl | The container can be opened from outside easily enough Sin@crystyl:"Hey!" she suddenly declares from the side of the door Sin@crystyl pops up from behind a crate, "I found my wristcomp! Those thieving little…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks over at Sin, "What- Oh." She chuckles slightly. Sin@crystyl joins Eva, fastening it protectively to her wrist, "Any joy?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I can open it, but there's no way of telling what's inside. Do you think you can do it with your telekinesis? So there's at least some room between us and whatever's inside when it opens, just in - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- case it isn't the drones.” Sin@crystyl:"I don't see why not” Sin@crystyl heads back around the corner to a safe distance Sin@crystyl | Tiah was happily exploring the other way when she was stopped in her tracks and yelped as she is tugged backwards by Sin dragging her by a tail, "This way Tiah" she chuckles. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 laughs slightly and moves around the corner as well, observing carefully, "Whenever you're ready, Sin.” Sin@crystyl | After being drawn to safety, Tiah pouts, tail wrapped around her as she strokes it sympathetically from the sharp tug Sin@crystyl focuses, reaching a hand towards the crate Sin@crystyl | A moment later the crate visibly flickers as the forcefield drops. Then as the maglocks release it begins to shake and rattle. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 keeps her rifle in hand and ready, but doesn't point it towards the crate so it doesn't look threatening. Sin@crystyl | The lid is flung off and an excitable Miadrone bursts out, flipping left then right as though aiming it's attachment node defensively Evanne Dra@annpc#557 beams happily, "Mia! It's me, Eva! I was hoping it was you.” Sin@crystyl | Miadrone turns sharply towards the group, beeping and booping excitedly as it wooshes towards them Sin@crystyl | Mia ripples into view already pouncing into a group hug, "Thank the stars, you have no idea how cramped it was in that little box!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 hugs Mia back, "I'm glad to see you're safe too, Mia! We've been looking everywhere for you!” Sin@crystyl | Mia: "We thought everyone was still unconscious! But oh! We must hurry, there are intruders on board!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "That's why we wanted to find you. Most of the ones left are down in Engineering, and we don't want to start a firefight down there.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Can you still access anything through the lockdown, like transporter systems?” Sin@crystyl | Mia: "Oui! We implemented the lockdown so we can release systems, but it is all or nothing. We can not selectively release systems Sin@crystyl meanwhile moves over and manually opens the other similar crates to set free Sayu and Relay Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "It might be a problem if we release it all and they gain control, and there's probably a lot they can access from down in Engineering... Sin@crystyl | Mia nods, "Every system on the ship, no less!” Sin@crystyl mutters while trying to shoo away the two excitable drones now circling her like Ancestor Moths Sin@crystyl:"What if we didn't need to gain control, but lose it...?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 looks over to Sin, "What do you mean?” Sin@crystyl turns, batting Relay to one side, then recoiling and grabbing her hand with immediate regret Sin@crystyl:"We all know how sensitive those systems down in engineering are. Pull a few select relays from the right junctions and I'm sure you could make it quite a mess down there, right?" she looks to Mia Sin@crystyl | Mia nods: "That is true! Even with control systems in lockdown, that does not protect the physical hardware in the jeffries tubes” Sin@crystyl smirks, "Mia, you're a walking tricorder; you /must/ have detailed schematics stored away in there, right? Couldn't you ID the right panels to interfere with to mess with the containment systems?” Sin@crystyl | Mia: "You want to trigger a reactor breach, or a plasma leak? We think it would be safer to risk letting the intruders gain control…” Sin@crystyl shakes her head, "No, nothing so severe! But... a coolant leak would be harmless enough while also triggering the safety overrides and making it /look/ like a breach, right?” Sin@crystyl | Mia thinks a moment and smiles, nodding, "Oui! It would do just that!” Sin@crystyl turns to Eva, "What do you think? Sufficient to scare our intruders away?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles and nods, "That should do. They don't understand our systems, so it'll be enough to fool them into thinking something's wrong.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"What should we do once we have them running, though? They've loaded a lot of torpedoes already, and we shouldn't let them get away with their ship.” Sin@crystyl:"Indeed, not just the torpedoes but everything else they've already got on board!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "We'll probably want to set some traps and ambushes for them once they're far enough away from the warp core. We can't let them just run off with our equipment.” Sin@crystyl | Miadrone and the others beep away among themselves Sin@crystyl | Mia: "Sayu and Relay are confident they can hold them here!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Do you want us to stay here as well, just for the additional support?” Sin@crystyl | Mia: "We will need you coordinate your efforts in pulling relays to trigger the leak” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "What about Tiah?” Sin@crystyl | Tiah: "Tiah can help protect things!” Sin@crystyl smiles, "She has a very good aim Mia, I think she'll prove invaluable to Sayu and Relay” Sin@crystyl | Mia nods, "We have every confidence in Ms. Tiah's prowess!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 takes out the communicators she looted in the elevator, tapping each before passing one to Sin and one to Tiah, "Here, this should help us keep in touch while the comms are down. I've set them - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- to Starfleet frequencies, so Mia and the drones should be able to pick them up as well.” Sin@crystyl stows the communicator, "Alright. Mia, point us in the right direction” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods and looks to Mia. Sin@crystyl | The group hurry off before splitting into different access ports and jeffries tubes while Tiah and the drones take up positions to hold the corridor. Well, the drones do. Tiah mooches curiously Sin@crystyl:+ among the stolen goods. --- Sin@crystyl FX | The team split up and head off down various jeffries tubes to set up their fake breach Sin@crystyl can be heard grumbling over their open comm about not being small enough Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<C> "You're pretty small already. Have you seen some of the other crewmen…” Sin@crystyl | <C> *Clangggg!* Sin@crystyl follows with a string self-pitying expletives Sin@crystyl:"Tell that to my head. Who designed these with damned bulkheads crossing them anyway!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<C> "That didn't sound pleasant…” Sin@crystyl | More comm chatter comes from the sound of a drone beep-humming a tone as it happily - and effortlessly maneuvers the tight tubes Sin@crystyl FX | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=val5LZ-YURo&list=RDval5LZ-YURo&index=1 Sin@crystyl:<C> Mia, you're singing again! Sin@crystyl:<C> Non Ms. Sin, that is not us this time! Sin@crystyl:<C> What? Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<C> "Wait...who's singing then?” Sin@crystyl:<C-Mia> Oui! That is Relay! Sin@crystyl audibly facepalms *slap* Sin@crystyl:<C> Mia, you are /such/ a bad influence Sin@crystyl:<C-Miadrone> blows a raspberry Evanne Dra@annpc#557 laughs, <C> "Pretty sure music is supposed to be good for you!” Sin@crystyl:<C> Time and place though Sin@crystyl:<C> Anyway, I'm in position here Sin@crystyl:<C-Mia> We are also at our position Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<C> "I'm here too.” Sin@crystyl:<C-Mia> That's everyone then! Ok now listen very carefully, I shall say this only once... Sin@crystyl FX | Meanwhile in main engineering.. Sin@crystyl | A number of invaders work around the room, most trying to crack open the systems while a couple still scavenge whatever they can Sin@crystyl | One invader wanders, keeping an eye on things while fiddling with his comm device, "Boss? Boss, what's going on up there?” Sin@crystyl | Invader2: "Problems?” Sin@crystyl | Invader1: "I dunno. Boss sounded all fired up about something before, but no answer now” Sin@crystyl | Invader2: "You don't think something happened to them...?” Sin@crystyl | Invader1: "Could be. Stay sharp, and get these damned systems- what the...?” Sin@crystyl | The pair snap around as a warning claxon begins to wail and thick blue-grey smoke begins pouring out of the injector manifolds feeding the core Sin@crystyl | The invaders inside panic and scramble, not sure what to do or what they broke Sin@crystyl | Invader1 rushes over, "What the hell did you idiots do?!” Sin@crystyl | They all shout in protest while already fleeing the area. Sin@crystyl | A suspiciously french-accented computer verbalizes: "Containment leak in progress. Core breach in; T-3 minutes" Sin@crystyl | Invader1 shouts back at the computer: "What? /Now/ you want to talk?! Shut it down, eject the core. Do... something!” Sin@crystyl | The computer voice continues, "Core breach in; T-2 minutes, 30 seconds. Sealing drive dore for ejection” Sin@crystyl | The partition wall begins to slowly drop across the entrance allowing all of the invaders inside to get a heroic escape-under-the-closing-door moment Sin@crystyl | The invaders gather in the control area, watching the now smoke filled room beyond Sin@crystyl | Invader1: "Come on... come on! Dammit! Stupid computer, eject the core already!” Sin@crystyl | Computer voice: "Core breach in; T-2 minutes. Ejection protocols engaged” Sin@crystyl | The engineering control panels suddenly erupt in cascading sparks one after the other as another member of the team pulls their relay Sin@crystyl | Computer voice: "Err-err-errorrrr... Ejection s-s-sytem off... offline. Core breach no longer detected. Have a pleasant day” Sin@crystyl | The invaders all give each other confused and fearful looks before the partition slowly begins to rise and let the breach smoke fill their compartment Sin@crystyl | That's enough for them and they all scramble to run away back to their ship Sin@crystyl | Computer voice giggles, "And /stay/ out. Hrmph!” Sin@crystyl | <C-Mia> Main engineering is now free of intruders! We shall lift the lockdown with Sayu and Relay's assistance in order to vent the atmosphere there. Ladies please stand by! Evanne Dra@annpc#557:<C> "Good work, Mia!” Sin@crystyl:<C-Mia> It was a team effort! Sin@crystyl | A few minutes later Mia has the smoke cleared and signals the others that it is safe to enter Sin@crystyl clambers out of the jeffries tube she was working in, enjoying a big stretch, "That's more like it!" she eyes the blown consoles, "Damn, we really put on a show didn't we…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 pops out of her jeffries tube and glances around as well, "Well, it had to be convincing.” Sin@crystyl:"Alright, let's get this lockdown lifted and take back our ship!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, <C> "Everything set to lift the lockdown, Mia?” Sin@crystyl | Mia nods, "Command functions restored and rerouted to your workstations” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles, <C> "Perfect. Thank you Mia!” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 taps a nearby console to do a sweep for any remaining invaders on board or in the docked craft. Sin@crystyl | There are a few non-crew biosigns roaming the ship. Those from engineering are grouped in a corner near the airlock. Evanne Dra@annpc#557 checks to see if the brig systems are online. Sin@crystyl | All systems are online and now available Evanne Dra@annpc#557 starts transporting the remaining invaders into the brig. Sin@crystyl:"Now that's the crisis in hand, we should see about the rest of the crew. Our little team did well here but I wouldn't fancy taking on the Horde fleet with just us, Tiah and the drones” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 chuckles, "I think that's going to be a lot harder than dealing with a scavenger crew…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 turns to Sin, "So...any idea where to start with the crew?” Sin@crystyl:"We should revive people from the top down. Get the command officers back in charge, but we can't do that until we know what exactly to do” Sin@crystyl:"So... I think we should head back to the medical lab and see if we can revive Dr. Meel first. She can handle the rest” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "Good thinking. And maybe there's something in the computers there that can give us an idea of how to start. She was monitoring us during the process.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 starts heading to the medical lab. Sin@crystyl:"Indeed" turns to Mia, "You should cover things here for now” Sin@crystyl | Mia nods, "Oui, Ms. Sin! What about Tiah and the others?” Sin@crystyl hrms, "They could either join you here, come with us, or go watch the prisoners..." looks to Eva, "Your orders LT?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 sets her phaser rifle aside and looks back to Mia, "Let's have Tiah and Sayu watch the prisoners, and leave Relay here to help. The Nuhar drones did well with the ship while we were on Belyia.” Sin@crystyl | Mia smiles and nods, "We will see to it Ms. Eva! And Sayu can look after Tiah, we are sure!" she giggles Sin@crystyl smirks, "I hope your brother knows he has his work cut out…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Seeing what Tiah did to the invaders...might have to stop her from just destroying the brig…” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"But at the same time if they somehow get free, she's the best one to deal with them.” Sin@crystyl laughs, "True enough. Alright, let's go wake us up a doctor” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods and heads to the lab. --- Sin@crystyl FX | Some time later, Sin and Eva are summoned to the Captain's ready room for a debrief Sin@crystyl steps in alongside Eva Evanne Dra@annpc#557 gives Keelah a nod as she enters, "Captain.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah looks up at the pair and smiles, "Ladies, please sit. I believe I'm all caught up on the essentials of what has occurred, but wanted to get things from your perspective to be sure" Sin@crystyl takes her seat, "Thank you Captain" sitting back, content to let Eva explain as the senior officer Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Well, after we performed the procedure, I woke up back in my own body but found everyone else unconscious. I headed to the bridge to find out what was going on, but Sin intercepted me and filled - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- me in on what she knew so far. We went to the computer core first to get sensor data which led us to Tiah, who, well...apparently discovered a new ability she had.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah perks a brow, "A new ability...?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Another defense mechanism that allows her to take the form of a little vulpine creature. I had to talk to her and make her recognize me first, but she seems to have more control over it now.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "Vulpine? She reverted to her natural form before bonding with T'Quila?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Oh! That must be what it was. I think so, yes.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"She was able to shift later when Sin asked her to before we retook the bridge.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah smiles faintly, "Well I suppose none of us here are strangers to evolving powers of the mind. I should not be surprised to find Tiah is no exception” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles as well, "Indeed. With Tiah's help, we were able to take out some of the intruders. Sin noticed they were very weak-willed and I...investigated the mind of one of them. They were refugees - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- who turned to scavenging and piracy, though I wasn't sure if the lack of resolve is due to their desperation or some corruption by the Horde.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I tried to intimidate and reason with them, but that didn't work, so we used Sin's plan to retake the bridge.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah looks to Sin, "Your plan, Ensign?” Sin@crystyl nods, "A tactical deployment of the assets at hand” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smirks, "That's an unusually professional description for you.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah checks the details on her screen, "Indeed. An intuitive little plan" she glances back up with a smirk at Eva's comment. Sin@crystyl turns to Eva with a slight frown, "Hey, I can be professional when it suits!” Sin@crystyl soon shows her true colours Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "So you retook the bridge. I assume this firefight is the reason I have scorchmarks on my viewscreen now?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"No, I...think that might be my fault.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"When I appeared to them to try and negotiate, a few of them got startled and opened fire at the illusion. Sorry…” Sin@crystyl | Keelah smiles, "Under the circumstances I'm sure we can forego the penalty for destruction of Starfleet property” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles, "Thank you, Captain. We found out where the drones were being held from a PADD their leader had, or at least I think it was their leader.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Once we freed Mia and the others, we were able to scare the intruders in engineering away with another one of the Ensign's cunning plans and lift the lockdown.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah looks to Sin again, "Twice in one day, Ensign?” Sin@crystyl shakes her head, "It was hardly my plan. Mia really brought that one together” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 smiles, "You had a key role in thinking it up too, Sin. But Mia was certainly instrumental in knowing exactly what to do, and we would never have been able to pull it off without her knowledge - Evanne Dra@annpc#557:- of the ship.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "I'll be sure to note her contributions as well” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"When we had control of the ship back, it was easy enough to beam the rest of the intruders into the brig. Then we had to wake everyone else.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah nods, "Thank you, I have Kazra's reports from there” Sin@crystyl | Keelah leans back in her chair, eyeing the pair a moment, "It would see you two had quite the little escapade. You saved this ship, for which you have my sincere gratitude” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"We did accidentally put us in the situation to begin with, after all…” Sin@crystyl looks down sheepishly Sin@crystyl | Keelah nods, "Technically true, but you went about things the right way still. You had Kazra supervising and conducted your procedure with responsibility. I can't hold any of that against you” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"It was an unprecedented side effect. But still, we'll be more careful with these things. And...avoid swapping bodies when possible.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "Indeed, that would be advisable. I think we can settle for this being a lesson in caution with mental abilities” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "So with that review done, is there anything more you wish to add to the record?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Only that the Ensign and the others that helped drive the intruders off performed very well. Including Tiah, Mia, Sayu and Relay.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah smiles, "Duly noted” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"And...what are we planning to do with the prisoners? Do we know if they were under Horde influence, or just desperate?” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "Sadly, we can not blame the Horde for every unsavoury act we encounter out here. These men were influenced by nothing more than their circumstances” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "As to their fate... well, first they are working under guard to return everything they took from this ship” Sin@crystyl smirks, "A fitting punishment” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "Beyond that, I again find myself reassessing the rules by which we live, and their relevance this far from home…” Sin@crystyl:"Captain?” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "I do wish I was able to work out a deal with them. I was hoping we would get them to return what they had taken in exchange for some supplies.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "It may be a blessing that you were not successful" turning to Sin, "What I mean Ensign, is that were we in Federation territory here, I would not think twice about taking their ship in + Sin@crystyl:+ tow to the nearest starbase where they would be processed by the justice system. But we have no such luxury out here, and so our choices are limited; set them free, or imprison them in the brig” Sin@crystyl nods, "I get it. You don't want to risk holding long term prisoners, but to set them free would just leave them open to more piracy” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "Exactly” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I do feel bad for them. They were looting our ship, but under their circumstances and with their desperation...I think many people would do the same. Maybe even some of us.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"But if we just let them go..." she nods to Sin, "What you said.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah nods, "Indeed. To that end, I have tailored our response to their raid accordingly. Not only are they unloading everything they took from us, but everything identified on their ship as not + Sin@crystyl:+ being native to it. We are also draining their food and fuel reserves to a minimum; allowing just enough supplies for them to reach the Vue En quarantine zone” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "A fitting response. It should give them a chance, but severely lower their ability to raid others if they choose to go back to piracy.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah nods, "That's the intent. They will be... encouraged to set that course and seek shelter. There are likely others there who have suffered at their hands, so they will have to face the + Sin@crystyl:+ consequences of their actions. But after reviewing their other inventory, it was the only logical choice” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"There's not much of an alternative. Our brig only has so much space, and if we keep locking people up, we'll run out very quickly.” Sin@crystyl:"What exactly /did/ you find on their ship?” Sin@crystyl | Keelah checks her screen, "Largely the usual one would expect on a vessel like this. However they seem to have an unusual focus on weapons” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"I did notice they loaded a significant amount of torpedoes according to the PADD and what they were saying.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557:"Maybe they wanted to use them to raid other ships, or to sell to someone they know is willing to purchase weapons.” Sin@crystyl | Keelah nods, "Not just torpedoes, but beam arrays also. We found some Nuhar AP emitters that they were trying to restore among other things” Sin@crystyl | Keelah: "But among the ordnance we did find, there was also a collection of torpedoes unlike anything we've seen before. They appear to be trilithium in nature and extremely powerful according to+ Sin@crystyl:+ our calculations. Quite the devastating arsenal in the wrong hands” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods, "I wonder who else they've raided, and where they got all of it from. But it's certainly best we keep it out of their hands." Sin@crystyl:"They've probably been at it for ages…” Sin@crystyl | Keelah nods, "We believe so, from their logs. Anyway, I've kept you both long enough. If there's nothing more, then that will be all” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 nods and stands, "Let me know if there's any more details you need filled in, Captain.” Sin@crystyl stands as well. Sin@crystyl | Keelah nods and smiles, "Count on it. Thank you again ladies.” Evanne Dra@annpc#557 turns to head out. Sin@crystyl follows Eva out.

View AAR

AFTER ACTION REPORT STARFLEET SECURITY CLEARANCE LEVEL 1 | Open

FILED BY

LTJG Dra

ON STARDATE

97852.3

LOCATION

Sector V-022

MISSION PARAMETERSOUTCOME SUMMARY Subdue intruders on the Valley Forge. Surviving pirates released to their ship after brief incarceration in the brig. Stolen supplies and equipment have been reclaimed and the pirates' ship have been stripped of all non-native technology.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The pirates have been left with the bare necessities and enough reserves to reach Vue-En, which they have strongly been recommended to do so. The removal of the majority of salvaged components will hopefully dissuade them from further raiding.

NARRATIVE

The procedure to return myself and CMDR Keliaya to our own respective bodies, assisted by Ensign Sin, accidentally affected the entire crew. Though the procedure was a success, the crew was rendered unconscious, with the exception of those immune to telepathy. When I awoke, I discovered everyone in the lab alive but non-responsive and proceeded towards the bridge to determine what had occurred. Ensign Sin, who had woken before me, intercepted the turbolift and warned me against the course of action, as the bridge was now occupied by unidentified boarders.

The two of us investigated the computer core first, from where we were able to obtain data from the ship's internal sensors which determined that there was no correlation between the boarding parties and the crew falling unconscious. We also learned that there was movement in the ship corresponding to the drones Mia, Sayu and Relay as well as movement corresponding to the unique biosignature of Tiah. The ship had been placed on lockdown (by Mia, as we later learned) which prevented both the intruders and ourselves from accessing any systems.

We decided that the priority would be to remove the intruders personally and we sought additional assistance. The movement of the drones had mysteriously ceased and they could not be detected on sensors, so we sought Tiah first and discovered that she had discovered an instinctive ability to shift into a vulpine form, likely the one she had prior to bonding with T'Quila (as speculated by Captain Se'lai). After speaking to Tiah, I was able to make her recognize us and with her help we took down two groups of the intruders. Though some telepathic probing, I was able to learn that they were refugees whose desperation had turned them to scavenging and piracy.

After an unsuccessful attempt to either negotiate with the pirates or intimidate them into leaving, we had no choice but to retake the bridge by force. Ensign Sin conceived a plan to use Tiah's vulpine form, which the intruders were interested in capturing as an exotic pet, as a distraction while we hid on top of the turbolift and dropped down to attack. After gaining control of the bridge, we found a PADD listing all the equipment and supplies that had been taken from the ship, including crates that the PADD warned not to open.

Though we had no way of knowing for certain what was in the crates, we guessed that it may be the drones as the pirates would probably have captured them intact given their reaction to Tiah's vulpine form. Either way, retaking Main Engineering by force was too dangerous as it could result in us accidentally hitting the warp core so we took the risk and proceeded to the airlock, where we took down two more boarders and opened the crates to find the drones within. Sin and Mia came up with a plan to use a coolant leak to trick the pirates into thinking there was an impending core breach and lure them out of Engineering.

Sin, Mia and I proceeded to Engineering through the Jefferies tubes, activating the required ports while Tiah, Sayu and Relay remained by the airlock where the pirate ship was docked to intercept the pirates before they could escape. The plan worked as we hoped and the intruders abandoned Main Engineering. With the critical ship areas free of boarders, Mia lifted the lockdown and I transported the remaining pirates into the brig. With the ship secure, Sin and I were able to return to the medical lab and revive Doctor Meel to begin work on the rest of the crew.

View Bonus Content

Istar@anncaris FX | In the absence of the Valley Forge, the remainder of the Coalition had been slowly making progress with the freeing and re-education of the Terminu population, using a combination of - Istar@anncaris - methods and technologies from the different civilizations involved in the endeavour. Upon learning of the massive Horde fleet inbound, the decision was made to relocate all survivors to the - Istar@anncaris - Waystation as the viability of holding Terminu drops to virtually none. As the Horde draws ever closer however, the Coalition makes a desperate scramble to bring as many thralls on board as - Istar@anncaris - possible to save the largest number of people they can, planning to treat them on the way. Istar@anncaris | On the Colonial Fleet ship Swiftjaw, a repurposed Nausicaan Destroyer, Mysti Two is summoned to one of the briefing rooms... Lorri@crystyl walks in, punctual as ever, looking around to see who else is attending and to gauge the purpose of the brief star@anncaris | There is a Raven clone and two Arshai, Meru-Inuze and Jorana-Faeshe, both ground combat specialists. Ship Commander Rayya-Inuze stands at the other side of the table from them. Lorri@crystyl approaches, taking her place around the table Istar@anncaris | The others take their place around the table as well, and the Ship Commander begins to speak, "The thralls are Terminu are beginning to get smarter, despite consistently thinning their numbers - Istar@anncaris:- with our efforts. The Coalition believes this recent act may be because the Horde reinforcements are drawing into range.” Istar@anncaris | Jorana: "And this recent development is why these ones are called here, Commander Rayya?” Istar@anncaris | Rayya: "Yes. The Horde have begun repurposing various pieces of equipment throughout the settlements to set up transporter scramblers and placing these scramblers in the heart of high - Istar@anncaris:- population concentrations the Coalition is trying to evacuate. The Coalition cannot evacuate these people nor destroy the scramblers from orbit without inflicting significant casualties. While the - Istar@anncaris:- Lupan and Nuhar advise simply bombarding the scramblers as the Coalition cannot save everyone on Terminu anyways, there are a few settlements with enough population to warrant a finer touch.” Lorri@crystyl:"So our job is to shut down these scramblers the hard way” Istar@anncaris | Rayya: "Correct. A full-on assault to destroy the scramblers or capture thralls without transporters would be too costly. Fortunately, anti-Horde defenses like the implants everyone on board - Istar@anncaris:- has does not only prevent the Horde from controlling a person, but sensing them from afar. That means stealth is an option, so the Coalition is deploying small insertion teams to take down the - Istar@anncaris:- scramblers. Mysti Two is team leader, Jorana is sniper and tech specialist, Raven is combat specialist and secondary tech support and Meru is combat specialist and field medical support. Shooting - Istar@anncaris:- the scramblers should do nicely, but Rayya is ensuring the team has adequate tech capability as well. The site Swiftjaw's team is being deployed to has three scramblers to disable.” Istar@anncaris | Rayya: "Everyone has roles and mission instructions. Questions?” Lorri@crystyl:"What about extraction priorities? Any endangered species thralls we are to focus efforts on in the area?” Istar@anncaris | Rayya: "The most endangered species have already been extracted. Ship crews have sensors on extraction priorities and ones marked as high priority can be extracted once the scramblers are down. - Istar@anncaris:- There are no thralls remaining critical enough to warrant diversion from the primary objective. As such, lethal force on thralls is permissible, but do try to use energy weapons on stun if possible.” Lorri@crystyl:"Of course” Istar@anncaris | Rayya: "If everyone is set, proceed to the transporters for deployment." Lorri@crystyl nods, glancing around her team before turning and heading ou Istar@anncaris | Her team follows her out towards the transporter Istar@anncaris | Raven: "We should avoid detection whenever possible. When one thrall sees us, all of them will know where we are. Lorri@crystyl:"How far out do you think we should set down? Istar@anncaris | Jorana: "As close as possible. The scramblers will limit how close the team can beam in, and sensors should be able to get a read on any nearby thralls on insertion point so the operator can - Istar@anncaris:- pick a location that is not being watched. Lorri@crystyl:"Good. The less distance we have to cross the better Istar@anncaris | Meru: "The Terminu settlements are not built for ground defense. There should be many ways in once the team is down. Lorri@crystyl:"Alright then. Quick and clean it is. We might have immunity to their control, but those numbers have caused enough problems for ground teams here, let's make sure ours doesn't become one of them Istar@anncaris | Raven: "When we do get spotted, we should incapacitate all nearby thralls and move on quickly. The Horde will only know where we are if a thrall sees us, and if we act fast enough all they can - Istar@anncaris:- do is swarm our last known location, rather than where we are at present. Lorri@crystyl nods, "Agreed" Istar@anncaris | The team select their weapons from the armoury- a pair of pistols and daggers for Raven, a pair of bladed pistols and a Zolre for Meru, and a sniper rifle, pistol and combat knife for Jorana. Istar@anncaris | After choosing their equipment, they proceed to the transporter pad, where an Arshai transporter operator stands ready to beam the team down. Istar@anncaris | Everyone draws and readies their weapon of choice and the operator looks to Mysti for the signal to energize. Lorri@crystyl draws her own rifle as she joins the team on the pad. Giving it a final glance to check she looks back to the operator, "Energize" Istar@anncaris | The team transports in just outside of one of the buildings on the settlement's edge. Desert surrounds much of the area, with only sparse vegetation. Istar@anncaris | All is quiet, with no Horde thralls around them. Meru takes out a scanner and points to one of the buildings, "Scrambler in there.” Lorri@crystyl:gives an overhead wave, "Move out" Istar@anncaris:| They move towards the building, weapons ready. As they near the entrance, Meru takes another scan and announces, "They have guards on the scrambler, as expected. We should hit it quickly and move - Istar@anncaris:- on before the Horde swarm the area.” Lorri@crystyl:"Demolitions ready?” Istar@anncaris:| Jorana gives an affirmative nod while Raven takes up position to one side of the door. Lorri@crystyl:checks everyone is ready before giving Raven a nod to breach the door. Istar@anncaris:| Raven sets the usual spherical lock-hacking device on the door, and a few seconds later, it slides open and she points her pistols inside before slowly proceeding in. Lorri@crystyl:follows in from the other side, rifle raised and ready. Istar@anncaris:| Meru: "Four thralls patrolling the halls, six in the room with the scrambler.” Lorri@crystyl:continues to edge forwards with a silent acknowledgement of the count Istar@anncaris:| Before long, they come across an alien walking idly through the hall. He doesn't seem to be armed, quite likely a literal eye for the Horde with no defensive capability. Lorri@crystyl:draws in as close as possible before dropping the alien with a stun setting and moving quickly to find the rest Istar@anncaris:| The alien is knocked out by the shot, and the rest of the team hurries with her, quickly reaching a larger central room where the scrambler is set up. Three of the six thralls are already waiting - Istar@anncaris:- for them by the entrance, while the other three stand close to the scrambler, possibly defending against any potential flanking. Lorri@crystyl:aims for a quick drop with a series of rapid shots across the group, hoping to eliminate any threat before they can react Istar@anncaris:| Meru and the Raven joins in, and with their speed and accuracy, they quickly down the six thralls in the room. One more hurry in from the entrance on the far side, but Jorana stuns him with a - Istar@anncaris:- shot from her sniper before moving in and quickly slapping an explosive charge on the scrambler. Lorri@crystyl:checks around and calls a simple "Clear" before pulling back to a safe distance Istar@anncaris:| Jorana sets off the charge as everyone backs away, destroying the scrambler. Raven gives a confirmation nod as she checks her scanner and .ensures the scrambling is indeed gone Istar@anncaris:| Meru: "One down, two to go.” Istar@anncaris:| Raven: "Let's move quickly before more thralls get here.” Lorri@crystyl:"Lead on” Istar@anncaris:| Meru nods and the team proceeds out of the building, with Meru taking out another patrolling thrall that tried to intercept them. Once outside, they quickly leave the area, watching as thralls - Istar@anncaris:- swarm into the building to find nothing. Lorri@crystyl:"So far so good. Where's our next target?” Istar@anncaris:| Jorana points to another building, "There. That's not good. Reading more thralls moving to that location too. Looks like the Horde is reinforcing the scramblers.” Istar@anncaris:| Raven: "If we hurry, we might be able to get to that one before the Horde, but the third's going to be problematic.” Lorri@crystyl:"Let's get number 2 out the way first. We'll worry about number 3 after” Istar@anncaris:| Raven nods and the team sprints towards scrambler 2, picking a path that's both quick and avoids being seen by thralls. They make it to the building before most of the thrall reinforcements, and - Istar@anncaris:- Meru announces as they near the door, "Seven in the main room, two at each entrance.” Lorri@crystyl:"Stun grenades?” Istar@anncaris:| Raven nods, "I'll open the door and throw one in, then we can make a dash for the main room.” Lorri@crystyl:"Do it” Istar@anncaris:| Raven sets the circular lockpick on the door again, this time with a stun grenade ready in the other hand. The moment the door opens, she rolls the grenade in and ducks back out of the grenade's - Istar@anncaris:- range as it stuns the two guards by the entrance. The team rushes in quickly, with the Raven tossing another grenade into the main room to soften up the thralls. Istar@anncaris:| Once it goes off, four thralls remain active in the room. Lorri@crystyl:follows in closely, aiming as before for a series of rapid fire shots Istar@anncaris:| The team quickly take down the four in the main room. Like last time, two thralls rush into the room from the other side. One of them appears to be holding something that was not a weapon and - Istar@anncaris:- Jorana shoots her first. As the thrall drops, whatever it was holding goes up in an explosion, taking out the other as well. Istar@anncaris:| Raven: "Nice shot.” Istar@anncaris:| Jorana: "Not the first time Jorana has dealt with suiciders," she states as she steps forward and sets the charge on the scrambler Lorri@crystyl:"Alright let's clear out before more turn up" Istar@anncaris:| The team quickly clear the room, the charge going out behind them. As they reach the exit to the building, they see six thralls coming towards them. Istar@anncaris:| Meru: "Reinforcements, but the bulk of the thralls aren't here yet.” Lorri@crystyl:"They're catching on quick. Probably here to slow us down while the others catch up, we can't break pace” Lorri@crystyl:starts firing on the new thralls as soon as they are in view Istar@anncaris:| The thralls get a few shots off in return, but the team has the advantage of using the walls as cover and manage to take out the thralls without taking any hits in return. Istar@anncaris:| Jorana checks her scope before waving to the side of the building, "More of them coming that way. Let's go around.” Lorri@crystyl:nods, "Low profile to the last target” Istar@anncaris:| The team nods back and quickly circles around the building, evading the reinforcements as they proceed to the last target” Istar@anncaris:| Meru: "A large number of thralls have already converged on the last building. Frontal assault is not an option.” Lorri@crystyl:"Alternative entrances?" Istar@anncaris:| Raven checks her scanner, "Ventilation is too small. Not the most pleasant, but it looks like we can access it through the sewage systems.” Lorri@crystyl:grimaces, "Sewers... seriously? I swear they don't pay us enough for this. It's going to take me the rest of the day just to get the stink out of my hair” Istar@anncaris:| Jorana: "There is also the roof, but the chances of being seen going from roof to roof is much higher.” Lorri@crystyl:groans, "I know... sewers it is. Move out” Istar@anncaris:| Raven: "Once we're in though, we'll be overwhelmed very soon. Our only chance is to destroy the scrambler and call for extraction.” Lorri@crystyl:"At least they'll be so aware already that the smell won't be an additional worry” Istar@anncaris:| Meru chuckles, "There is always a bright side.” Istar@anncaris:| After an unpleasant trek through the sewers, they reach the entrance into the last building... Istar@anncaris:| Jorana: "There won't be time to set a demo charge. May have to throw a more powerful grenade and take out some thralls with it, or the team can set weapons to a higher setting and concentrate - Istar@anncaris:- fire on the device. Either way, may be impossible to avoid collateral." Lorri@crystyl:"More powerful grenades sounds the safest” Istar@anncaris:| Jorana nods, taking out a photon grenade. Raven opens the entrance and the team crawls out, immediately set upon by Horde thralls from all directions... Istar@anncaris:| The team returns fire while Jorana rolls the grenade towards the device, but two thralls jump on it before it reaches its target. It goes off, taking out a few thralls, but not the scrambler. Lorri@crystyl:"Multiple grenades!” Istar@anncaris:| Raven: "Cover us!” Lorri@crystyl:continues firing to force the thralls back Istar@anncaris:| Meru steps forward, fending off thralls with his dual pistols and expert Sone-Zae close combat shooting. Meanwhile, Raven and Jorana draw two grenades each, Raven rolling hers while Jorana throws - Istar@anncaris:- hers high. A thrall finally makes it through Meru's defense and leaps on him as the explosion goes off, shaking the room and knocking everyone about. Istar@anncaris:| Before the smoke can clear, Mysti hears Raven calling, "Extraction, now!" and they promptly disappear into transporter beams… --- Istar@anncaris | The team beams back to the transporter pad, with the thrall still on Meru. He kicks it off and gives Jorana a clear shot, which she quickly takes and stuns the thrall Istar@anncaris | Meru gets back to his feet, looking around, "That was a little too close at the end.” Lorri@crystyl:"Just enough to make it interesting" she smiles Istar@anncaris | Jorana chuckles, "Jorana would rather avoid going into the sewers again, though.” Lorri@crystyl:"No arguments there. So... any volunteers to scrub my back?” Istar@anncaris | Raven checks her wristcomp, "Not me. But Commander has given the mission success, so we should definitely clean up…” Lorri@crystyl:"Sounds like a plan. Any word on the other teams?” Istar@anncaris | Raven: "Other Colonial Fleet teams report success as well. Not sure about the other Coalition members, though.” Lorri@crystyl:"At least our guys are holding their own” Istar@anncaris | Jorana: "Colonial Fleet ground specialists are more suited to missions like this.” Lorri@crystyl beams, "Damned straight” Istar@anncaris | Raven: "Come on, let's get changed and cleaned.” Istar@anncaris | Raven makes her way off the transporter pad, with the rest of the team following Lorri@crystyl tags along, revelling in the post victory feeling Istar@anncaris | They arrive at a large change room/shower area. As a smaller destroyer, Swiftjaw has less in the way of comfort than many other ships, though the Arshai had refitted the showers to offer full - Istar@anncaris - privacy at each. Lorri@crystyl heads in, eager to start cleaning the stink of the sewers off Istar@anncaris | The rest of the team take their equipment off and leave it in a cleaning machine, each heading into one of the showers as well. Istar@anncaris | The showers go well and without incident... Istar@anncaris | By the time they finish, their clothes are cleaned as well, and waiting for them in the change area. Lorri@crystyl takes her time freshening up and may even be the last back out and change Istar@anncaris | The rest of the team are indeed already changed. As Mysti starts getting dressed again, her still unstrapped wristcomp flashes with a message. Lorri@crystyl picks it up off the bench, tapping to view the message Istar@anncaris | As she picks it up, she notices that everyone else in the room, including an Orion male not on her team, were also looking to their wristcomps. On it was a single line. Istar@anncaris | NOTIFICATION: The Horde has arrived Lorri@crystyl 's eyes widen and she looks to the others Istar@anncaris | The others also look up and over to her, then at one another as well. A few seconds later, another line pops up. Istar@anncaris | All personnel report to stations. Lorri@crystyl glances at the message, "I think this is serious. Get going!” Istar@anncaris | Raven and the others jump up immediately and start making their way out of the change room. Lorri@crystyl rushes out with the others Istar@anncaris | As they move through the halls of the ship, they pass by one area with a window looking out. The ship seems to be in mid-turn, and as they begin facing away from Terminu, the four get a view - Istar@anncaris - of the Horde fleet, far too many to count. The Regulator ship stands with a number of other ships, some the familiar shape of Nuhar constructs, others of completely unfamiliar design. Lorri@crystyl pauses and peers out, "Goddess…” Istar@anncaris | The Horde ships rush in like a wave. The black of space suddenly lights up with hundreds of beams and flashes of dozens of shades. Some of the wave crashes and breaks upon the defenders, while - Istar@anncaris - the rest go up and around, swarming past towards Terminu. The ship turns away from the view of the Horde, and they see one of the two Researcher's Guild vessels they came with warping away - Istar@anncaris:- with its Colonial fleet escort close behind. A small force of ships swoop in, two Lupan packships and six escorts, five Nuhar constructs, and four vessels of unknown design. They all open fire - Istar@anncaris:- simultaneously, crimson antiproton beams flanked by disruptor bolts, torpedo volleys and thinner beams of various colours, not aimed at the Horde, but the planet below. Istar@anncaris | Raven: "They're purging what's left on Terminu…” Lorri@crystyl:"I hope the last few we got out were worth it” Istar@anncaris | Their wristcomps suddenly flash with another message again. Lorri@crystyl checks the message. Istar@anncaris | OBJECTIVE: Proceed to Transporter 1. Further instruction given en route. Lorri@crystyl doesn't even give it a second thought as she quickly changes direction Istar@anncaris | Everyone else does the same, making for the transporter room they came from. Only a few steps later, a male voice sounds from their wristcomps, "No time for a full briefing. Here's - Istar@anncaris:- the situation. Those explorers on that Mothership is as crazy as the ones from Starfleet. They wouldn't pull out to fill up their containment areas to capacity. Their support ships kept them from - Istar@anncaris:- taking much damage, but the Horde in range beamed everyone they can on board while they were transporting thralls from the surface.” Istar@anncaris | Voice: "We're deploying you to assist. All remaining ships are going to warp with the Mothership and it's going to raise shields, so there won't be any extraction, but you'll have plenty of - Istar@anncaris:- allied support over there. Check your fire, there's civilians on that ship." Istar@anncaris | They rush into the transporter room, where the same transporter operator is waiting for them. As soon as they assemble on the pad, she taps a button, gives Mysti a nod, and energizes... --- T'Vek@anncaris FX | The team beams into a long platform area overlooking a corridor below. Meru immediately takes out his scanner, checking their surroundings while their wristcomps update, with the message: T'Vek@anncaris | OBJECTIVE: Defend Mothership Suvoseh Lorri@crystyl glances at the message and eyerolls, "Really? Thanks for that” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "Mysti never knows when Mysti might get stunned and wake up to lose all memory and need a reminder. Really, Jorana heard that has happened before.” Lorri@crystyl smirks a little, "Alright. strategic targets. Give me details” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "We've got non-Coalition readings a few junctions down. They're heading towards the centre of the Mothership." Lorri@crystyl:"What's there for them to target?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "The central singularity core. If that is destroyed, the Mothership will not only collapse in on itself, but the gravitational forces will be strong enough to draw in all ships moving - T'Vek@anncaris - alongside the Mothership. The effects might be even worse at warp, but Jorana is a sniper and field technician, not a scientist.” Lorri@crystyl:"Either way, sounds like a target I'd go for if I were a thrall. Let's make our way there and fortify the position” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "Agreed. We should be able to flank the thralls if we move in from here.” Lorri@crystyl:"Take point then. And stay sharp, all of you” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven nods and takes point, leading the way across the platform, through a side door and some smaller halls and eventually onto another platform T'Vek@anncaris | Raven pauses as they enter the other platform and Meru whispers, "Thralls are just beneath. Should be coming into view soon.” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "Perfect. Jorana likes having the higher vantage point.” Lorri@crystyl whispers with a smile, "There is certain satisfaction in holding the high ground” Lorri@crystyl aims and waits for the opportune moment to ambush them T'Vek@anncaris | Before long, the Horde thralls come into view, seven bigger, more misshapen Brute thralls followed by four smaller Engineers Lorri@crystyl lets them all come into view before first shooting to drop the engineers as initial targets T'Vek@anncaris | Between their shots, the four engineers are quickly taken down, along with two of the Brutes. The rest turn around, with three returning fire and forcing the team into cover while two dart off - T'Vek@anncaris - to the side, looking for a way to move up to the platform Lorri@crystyl continues to press the assault T'Vek@anncaris | The three thralls lay down almost continuous fire, making it difficult for Mysti and her team to shoot back, but the thralls also don't seem to bother taking cover, and with a few - T'Vek@anncaris - good opportunities, the three are all taken out. However, this has brought time for the two others to make their way onto the platform, firing back from a different direction. Fortunately, - T'Vek@anncaris - Meru's Sone-Zae gives him a distinct edge over the clumsy Brute thralls and he evades their shots while taking them out cleanly with one headshot from each pistol T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "All clear." Lorri@crystyl:"Nice work. Keep moving" T'Vek@anncaris | Raven nods and continues to lead the way, pistols at the ready. They move through the halls for a few more minutes before Meru announces, "Picking up more non-Coalition signatures. A lot of - T'Vek@anncaris:- signatures. Too many for this team to engage alone.” Lorri@crystyl:"Alternative routes?” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "The thralls aren't coming for this team, probably also going towards the core.” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "There might be other defenders here. I suggest regrouping at the core to see who else we can join up with.” Lorri@crystyl:"So we have another route to the core?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "A parallel one, yes. But the team can also cut across at any point. If Jorana goes in front of the thralls' route before the thrall reaches the area, Jorana may be able to set up - T'Vek@anncaris:- traps to thin the enemy numbers.” Lorri@crystyl nods, "Do it and reconvene on the parallel route" waves the rest of the team to move out T'Vek@anncaris | The rest of the team nods back and they begin moving, cutting across to the other route. Two minutes later, a series of explosions can be heard behind them, and Jorana rejoins at the back of - T'Vek@anncaris:- team, sprinting over to catch up, "That should help!” Lorri@crystyl:"Glad to see you're enjoying yourself” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "Always fun when enemies run into traps.” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "I'm reading An lifesigns up ahead.” Lorri@crystyl:"Let's find them" T'Vek@anncaris | Raven nods and leads the way ahead T'Vek@anncaris | Before long, they step out of a door when three bolts whiz past them, forcing them to duck back in before Mysti hears a voice shout, "Hold fire! They're not thralls!” Lorri@crystyl raises her hands non-threateningly and sticks them out of cover first before peeking around, "Yeah! Relax, we're all friendly here” T'Vek@anncaris | A female An of Vesan variety (as identified by the larger stature and ridged forehead) steps out from a makeshift barricade where multiple An in red Tel'darash uniforms can be seen behind - T'Vek@anncaris - cover with weapons held ready. The Vesan holds some form of submachine gun at her side, not holstered but also clearly not aimed at Mysti as she approaches, "Sorry about that.” T'Vek@anncaris | Vesan: "My officers are a little tense at the moment. I'm Second Lieutenant Suya of the Tel'darash.” Lorri@crystyl:"Understandable Suya, don't sweat it. We're here to help" she looks around, "Are there any more of you here? The Horde is pushing to take the core” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "There're ten of us here holding this passageway. The rest are guarding the other ways into the core. The Horde are assaulting from all directions and we're spread thin.” Lorri@crystyl:"We'll help where we can. Just tell us where you need us” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "They'll be upon us soon. We should get behind the barricade. We'll use all the firepower we can get.” Lorri@crystyl nods and waves for her team to take up their positions T'Vek@anncaris | Suya turns and heads behind the barricade. taking her own position as well. A Tel'darash officer announces beside her, "Contact in thirty seconds.” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "The moment the proximity mines go off, give them everything we have!" T'Vek@anncaris | A few seconds later, there is a series of pops in the connecting hallway followed by plumes of smoke. The An open fire immediately, lighting up the entrance with bolts Lorri@crystyl doesn't fire blindly, but picks her targets and tries to make every shot count T'Vek@anncaris | The first few thralls run straight into the shots and are disintegrated, but the rest take cover, starting to return fire. Mysti's aimed shots take out several thralls, but they are immediately T'Vek@anncaris - replaced by another behind it. T'Vek@anncaris | After half a minute of exchanging fire, the Horde suddenly stop shooting back T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "Did we get all of them?” Lorri@crystyl:"Impossible. Has to be a ploy of some sort…” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "Far from it from my scans. If they're trying to lure us out, it's not a very good attempt…” Lorri@crystyl:"They're up to something, have to be. Stay sharp" looks to Suya, "Check with the other teams. Is it the same everywhere else?” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya takes out a communicator and checks before nodding, "It seems to be. They're all moving off.” Lorri@crystyl:"Moving off? There must be a reason..." she looks around, clueless T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "This position is too advantageous, and the Horde are cut off from reinforcements. The Horde may appear to be mindless and rely on great numbers, but are tactically adept when needed.” T'Vek@anncaris:| Suya: "They've chosen a different target then?” Lorri@crystyl nods, "So what is the strategic value in this move for them?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "Jorana would...is there any other way to the core?” Lorri@crystyl:"Or maybe they've found another way to take this one without wasting time going through us” Lorri@crystyl says, looking all around the room T'Vek@anncaris | Suya shakes her head, "We've fortified every way to the core, and we have more people at the core if they make it past us.” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "Maybe they're joining together to assault one entrance with overwhelming force?” Lorri@crystyl:"Do you have access to your ship's internal sensors?" She asks to Suya T'Vek@anncaris | Suya nods, checking her datapad, "They are moving off, but not towards one of the other pathways into the core.” Lorri@crystyl joins her to see for herself, "Where exactly are they heading?” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "They're...moving into different areas of the engineering section. Non-critical ones. We've evacuated them all, but there's minimal defenses there…” Lorri@crystyl:"What exactly /is/ there?” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "I'm not sure. I'll have to consult the Fixers. Whatever it is, we should probably stop them. They're splitting off into smaller groups now. I'll call for reinforcement at this barricade. - T'Vek@anncaris:- If you can take your team ahead to investigate, I'll be right behind you with support.” Lorri@crystyl nods and looks to her team, "You heard the Lieutenant. New objective; recon" T'Vek@anncaris | The rest of Mysti's team stands, ready to move out. T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "No thralls in the area. Team is clear to go.” Lorri@crystyl:"Jorana has point. Tie in the Lieutenant's data and move out” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana nods, tapping her wristcomp and leading the way, stepping past a few dead thralls at the entrance T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana checks her wristcomp as they proceed through several hallways, "Apparently, these are maintenance 'tunnels.'” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "Tunnels? They're bigger than half the halls on the Swiftjaw!” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "This is a /very/ large ship.” Lorri@crystyl:"The luxury of city ships... any further indication on what they are aiming for?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "This is also a very complicated ship. There are many systems passing through these regions…” Lorri@crystyl:"So short answer... not a clue. Got it” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "We're almost at one of the points. Just through the next hall.” Lorri@crystyl:"Then let's get this done fast” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "Thralls are showing up on scanners. Thirteen in total.” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "And weapons fire, but no friendlies. They're probably shooting up the place.” Lorri@crystyl:"Interesting... let's hope they're sufficiently distracted then” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana moves ahead, peering into the room and whispering, "Definitely distracted. Should be able to sneak up and take out a few.” Lorri@crystyl nods and signs for the team to make a quick ambush T'Vek@anncaris | The team sets up outside the door, before glancing to Mysti for the signal to attack Lorri@crystyl takes position herself before waving for the team to attack, joining right in with the opening fire T'Vek@anncaris | The team opens fire on the unsuspecting thralls, taking out seven before the rest turn around and return fire, forcing them into cover again Lorri@crystyl tosses in a stun grenade T'Vek@anncaris | The stun grenade catches three of the six thralls remaining. Raven takes the opportunity as the grenade goes off to fire, taking down one thrall and forcing the other two to cover T'Vek@anncaris | Raven keeps up suppressive fire as Jorana leans in and picks off one of the thralls, but the second overloads its weapon and sends an explosion across the room, far from harming anyone but - T'Vek@anncaris:- frying much of the machinery T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "That's not good…” Lorri@crystyl:"Can you tell what systems these are?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana steps inside, scanning around, "Checking. Looks like the An have caught up." Indeed, Mysti hears footsteps approaching from behind” Lorri@crystyl turns and checks, weapon at the ready just in case T'Vek@anncaris | Suya approaches with three other Tel'darash officers, weapons ready as well T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "It's transporters and internal communications. That's what the Fixers say they're targeting. They don't have reinforcements, they want to cut ours off too.” Lorri@crystyl:"Divide and conquer. What's the status of the core?” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "The core is safe for now.” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana steps out of the room despondently, "This is beyond repair, but this area only had transporter systems.” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "Comms were still online last I checked. We might still be able to stop them from disrupting them.” Lorri@crystyl:"Where next then?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana checks her wristcomp, "Jorana does not know the Mothership well, but Jorana thinks this," she points out another part of the map, "area has comm systems, and the Horde is not there yet.” Lorri@crystyl looks to Suya, "Look about right to you?” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya looks to one of her officers, who nods, "That's definitely a comm subsystem.” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "Let's move.” Lorri@crystyl:"Lead on” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya nods and leads the way, winding through several more maintenance 'tunnels' T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "Hostile lifesigns, right behind us!” Lorri@crystyl spins around to engage T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "There's no cover in the halls! Suppressive fire while everyone makes for our destination!” T'Vek@anncaris | A second later, two brute thralls come into view, charging after the group, with many more behind Lorri@crystyl lays down suppressive fire while slowly backing up with the group T'Vek@anncaris | The rest of the group responds in kind, taking out the two Brutes in the lead as they back away into the room. Jorana steps in last, rolling a grenade out as she does which detonates just - T'Vek@anncaris:- outside the entrance. They scramble to get behind any cover they can find as they fire at the rest of the thralls piling into the room, but one An officer is too slow and gets shot down T'Vek@anncaris:| Meru rushes over, firing with a pistol in one hand as he drags the officer behind cover and scans him, but gives a shake of his head. Lorri@crystyl:"We can't continue like this” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven nods, as she keeps up her fire, "There's too many of them!” Lorri@crystyl tries her comm to get their own transporters to move them straight to the comm system are. T'Vek@anncaris | Swiftjaw's transporters can't assist as the Mothership's shields are still up. Lorri@crystyl groans, "We're on our own for now. Any other way out of this room?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana looks around and shakes her head, "The only way out is through these thralls!” T'Vek@anncaris | Suddenly, as they shoot down two more thralls, the rest of the thralls outside turn and start firing in the other direction. Lorri@crystyl:"Then we're pushing through the-... now! Press the attack!” T'Vek@anncaris | Mysti and Suya's team fire back with renewed vigor, opening fire as red bolts fly through the hall at the thralls. Soon, the firing stops and there are no thralls in range. Lorri@crystyl:"Move out! We have to get back on track” T'Vek@anncaris | There is a howl, followed by a series of loud bangs. Then, a thrall's torn limb flies past the door, followed by the rest of it in a bloody mess. As the team steps out, they see a group of five - T'Vek@anncaris:- grey Lupan, with the one in the lead holding a rifle in one hand and a bloodied blade in the other. Lorri@crystyl:"Woah, hold your fire! It's the Lupan team” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya lowers her submachine gun, "Good timing. We could use the backup.” T'Vek@anncaris | Lupan: "As if we were going to miss out on boarding action. Lead the way!” Lorri@crystyl:"They are trying to shut down secondary systems to isolate the resistance and cut off allied groups from coordinating defenses. We have to keep them away from the comms relay” T'Vek@anncaris | One of the An officers checks his datapad, "There's two critical areas they haven't reached yet," He points them out on a map. T'Vek@anncaris | Lupan: "We can take that one. You little ones can work together to protect the other.” Lorri@crystyl nods, "Good hunting!” T'Vek@anncaris | Lupan: "To you as well!” T'Vek@anncaris | The Lupan holster their weapons and begin sprinting towards their objective on all fours, while Suya turns to lead the way to theirs. Lorri@crystyl follows Suya, not on all fours mind. T'Vek@anncaris | Raven makes a scan as they near their destination, "Looks like there's nine thralls ahead of us.” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "We have to take them out before they do too much damage!” Lorri@crystyl:"Then press the attack, don't give them a chance to cover again!” T'Vek@anncaris | The team rushes forward, just in time to catch the last three thralls as they are entering the room. Suya opens fire, gunning down two while an aimed shot from Jorana takes out the third, but - T'Vek@anncaris - the rest are already inside and flashes of weapons fire can be seen T'Vek@anncaris | The team quickly darts forward after them, and the thralls are luckily too bent on causing destruction to take cover or set up any kind of counterattack. T'Vek@anncaris | They quickly take out the remaining thralls and step into the room. There are blackened spots and sparkling panels, but the damage looks much less severe than the last room Lorri@crystyl:"Salvageable?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana gives the room a scan and nods, "There's damage, but nothing too serious. Some areas may have comm shortage but the system should survive.” Lorri@crystyl:"Right. What's next then - back to the core?” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya takes out her communicator and checks before giving a nod, "Looks like the comm network is still online. Sensors show the remaining thralls in the engineering section are retreating to the - T'Vek@anncaris:- habitat zone.” Lorri@crystyl:"Right. Let's get this city of yours back under control so we can all go home then!” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya nods and turns to step out when her comm sounds, "...Vice Marshal Pashti to any Tel'darash not currently engaging the enemy or guarding a high-priority site, the containment facilities - T'Vek@anncaris:- are under attack. Most of the security for the captive thralls have been diverted to protect the ship and the facilities require additional support.” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "The containment facilities, that's where we kept the thralls we just recovered from Terminu. The Horde must be trying to add to their numbers by freeing them from containment.” Lorri@crystyl:"Figures... Alright, which way?” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "We're going to have to pass through the habitat zone. Without transporters...there's a hovercar lot just outside the maintenance tunnels. We can take those." Lorri@crystyl:"Point of note; a starship should never be so big that you need cars just to get around it!” Lorri@crystyl scoffs teasingly as they move out T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "The Mothership is more than just a starship. It's a mobile home for all of us on board.” Lorri@crystyl:"Still, might have been easier to just fit your planet with engines" she chuckles T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "It's not quite that big…” Lorri@crystyl grins Istar@anncaris | After a short walk, they find themselves in the hovercar lot. The ones here are an assortment of small personal transportation vehicles seating up to four people, and single-person bikes. Istar@anncaris | Suya: "I was hoping there'd be a supply truck here. We can take two of the cars- you know how to drive them, right?” Istar@anncaris | Raven: "I'm sure I can drive one.” Lorri@crystyl:"Not gonna lie, I already want to take one of those bikes with me when we're done here” Istar@anncaris | Suya chuckles, "I'm sure we could arrange that for your help here.” Lorri@crystyl:"All the more reason for us to make this a win then, come on everyone!” Istar@anncaris | Raven takes the driver's seat of one of the hovercars, with the rest of the team entering behind her, while Suya and her team enters another. Lorri@crystyl climbs in the front seat while everyone else splits up and piles into the car. Istar@anncaris | Raven studies the controls for a few moments before tapping a button and the hovercar begins to lift up. Istar@anncaris | Raven: "Fairly intuitive interface and an autopilot system. This shouldn't be hard to drive.” Istar@anncaris | Suya's hovercar flies off first, followed closely by theirs, first passing through a long tunnel area Lorri@crystyl:"You should know better than to say things like that aloud..." she smirks Istar@anncaris | Raven chuckles, "Good point.” Istar@anncaris | Before long, the two hovercars emerge out into what appears to be a large planetside area, though with a closer look around, it becomes evident that the sky is an artificial one. However, the - Istar@anncaris:- light emanated by it seems a close approximation of sunlight, and with the greenery and water beneath them, it looks surprisingly authentic. Istar@anncaris | Jorana: "Jorana had heard of this ship passing through Colonial Space, but never knew the ship was big enough to have parks inside…” Istar@anncaris | Raven: "I'm not sure it can be called a ship any more than a fighter with a warp drive can be called a ship. This is just a flying station.” Lorri@crystyl:"An impressive sight for sure” Istar@anncaris | Suddenly, the area lights up with orange bolts as Suya's hovercar lurches to the right to avoid incoming fire. Raven reacts quickly, pulling theirs off to the left and forcing whoever is firing - Istar@anncaris:- to divide up their shots. They go for Suya first, with a glancing hit sending the hovercar spinning out of control. Raven quickly taps the interface, giving them a boost of speed, but they don't - Istar@anncaris:- manage to clear the area when what appears to be a makeshift turret manually aimed by a thrall turns around and fires after them. Their hovercar swerves and evades the burst, - Istar@anncaris:- which goes on to hit and take out a small part of the artificial sky grid Istar@anncaris | Raven: "Jorana, can you get a shot on the turret?” Istar@anncaris | Jorana: "Not at this speed!” Istar@anncaris | Raven: "I can't stay still or it'll get us! Only choice is to put us down and take out that turret from the ground!” Lorri@crystyl:"Better that than be forced to land” Istar@anncaris | Raven nods, "Hang on!” Istar@anncaris | The hovercar turns and evades another burst before taking a sudden dive, with Raven pulling up at the last moment, zooming between two buildings and finally coming to a stop in a small green - Istar@anncaris:- space with a few small trees. She taps the interface as the car stops hovering, "No thralls around us, that's good.” Lorri@crystyl:"That won't be the case for long. Move out, we need to find that turret quickly!” Istar@anncaris | Jorana nods as they get out of their car, "The turret looks anti-air, but the Horde probably have thralls guarding the building too.” Istar@anncaris | Meru: "The Horde must have set that up to stop reinforcements, like everything else so far.” Istar@anncaris | Raven: "Turret is this way," she points it out as she readies her weapons Lorri@crystyl readies her rifle too and nods, "Stay sharp, they'll likely be expecting an assault after dropping our cars” Istar@anncaris | The team nods and proceeds forward, keeping off large open areas and moving through smaller spaces between buildings Istar@anncaris | Before long, they see several more bolts of orange as the turret opens fire on another passing vehicle Istar@anncaris | Jorana: "Looks like the Horde set up the turret on the highest building in the area too, so Jorana cannot get to a higher vantage point and snipe off the thralls on the roof.” Istar@anncaris | Meru: "The team will have to fight through the building.” Lorri@crystyl:"Of course. When do we ever get to do things the easy way” Istar@anncaris | Meru: "Well, Meru has done a few easy missions, but that was before the Horde.” Lorri@crystyl:"Lucky Maru..." she chuckles Istar@anncaris | As they near the building with the turret, they hear a familiar voice calling, "Hold fire! They're Colonial Fleet.” Istar@anncaris | Suya steps into view, followed by six Tel'darash officers Lorri@crystyl:"Hey, they made it!” Istar@anncaris | Suya: "One of my officers was injured in the crash and resting in a nearby building. We called for backup, and Lieutenant Kosla's team happened to be nearby and just finished escorting a group.” Istar@anncaris | Suya: "The car's busted, though. What about yours? Your team looks in good shape.” Lorri@crystyl:"Yeah, we managed to set it down before taking fire. But we need to take that turret out of action before we can get back in the air” Istar@anncaris | Suya nods, "That's why we're here too. Our scans show twenty thralls throughout the building. I think we can take it.” Lorri@crystyl:"We have to if we want to reach our objective” Lorri@crystyl grins, "And besides. I've got a hoverbike to earn!” Istar@anncaris | Suya smirks, "True enough. Do you want to be first in, or should we breach first?” Lorri@crystyl:"This is your home ground so we're happy to follow your lead” Istar@anncaris | Suya nods to the others, "Alright. Let's sweep the building and get that turret up top out of commission.” Istar@anncaris | The Tel'darash officers move towards the building first. Several thralls take position on the edge of the roof and fire back, but Jorana and one of the An sharpshooters manage to snipe two of - Istar@anncaris:- them. Suya and several other An provide suppressive fire, allowing everyone to reach the edge of the building safely. Istar@anncaris | As they get to the edge, one of the thralls on top toss down a grenade. He is shot immediately and the team quickly scrambles in good time to avoid the explosion Istar@anncaris | Suya: "Get that door open before they try anything else!” Lorri@crystyl moves up to help with the door Istar@anncaris | One of the Tel'darash officers taps a panel by the door and it slides open, followed by energy bolts, and the officer darts into cover immediately Lorri@crystyl fires back, covering the Tel'darash Istar@anncaris | The Tel'darash return fire as well. Amid the shooting, Suya slides a grenade in, which detonates and the return fire stops Istar@anncaris | Meru checks his scanner, "The thralls are retreating further into the building, likely to find another chokepoint.” Lorri@crystyl:"Then let's pin them down before they have a chance to entrench!” Istar@anncaris | Suya: "Good plan. Let's go in!” Lorri@crystyl leads the way Istar@anncaris | They proceed into the building, coming upon a stairwell where Mysti can just about get the shot in on a thrall making its way up... Lorri@crystyl:rolls 16 (1-100) Istar@anncaris | Mysti tries to rush forward and take the shot when Meru grabs her, causing her shot to go wide Lorri@crystyl continues to push forwards Istar@anncaris | Meru holds on to her and points at the third step on the stair, which looks slightly ajar compared to the others, "The stairs are trapped.” Istar@anncaris | Jorana steps forward, "Jorana can deal with this.” Lorri@crystyl gives a nod of appreciation as she steps out the way Istar@anncaris | Jorana moves to the stairs, doing a scan first before delicately opening the panel and reaching beneath the staircase. A few seconds pass when Raven announces, "Thralls, coming back down!” Istar@anncaris | Jorana: "Cover Jorana!” Lorri@crystyl takes position to cover Jorana Istar@anncaris | The others take position as well, opening fire as the thralls come down the stairs and open fire. Several thralls are disintegrated due to their lack of cover, but holding the higher ground, - Istar@anncaris - they manage to shoot over cover and hit one Tel'darash officer. Meru rushes over, dragging him into the safety of a nearby room while everyone else fires back Istar@anncaris:rolls 77 (1-100) Istar@anncaris | Jorana manages to retrieve the explosive, hurling it back up the stairs before running for cover. It detonates midair with a loud boom, filling the area with smoke and dust, and coughs can be - Istar@anncaris - heard from everyone Istar@anncaris | As the smoke clears, the staircase is slightly damaged and littered with thrall bodies, but no allies or team members were hurt in the explosion Lorri@crystyl:"...show off" she teases with a proud smile Istar@anncaris | Jorana smiles back, "That was the best thing to do with the bomb. Saves Jorana time not having to defuse it too.” Lorri@crystyl:"It's all about the efficiency! Let's not waste it, come on!” Istar@anncaris | Meru steps out of the side room, looking to Suya, "The officer is alive but out of commission for now, and should be taken to a medical facility soon. Istar@anncaris | Suya nods and a male Kalan beside her waves to another officer, "Namesh, stay with her, rest of us follow the Colonial team. Istar@anncaris | They proceed up the stairs and into a room where several more thralls are waiting for them, but Raven tosses in a grenade and after several shots, they are all taken down. Istar@anncaris | Crossing the room, they come upon yet another staircase, this one leading to the top of the building. As they climb, Meru states, "Only one more thrall left on the roof, probably on the turret.” Istar@anncaris | Raven: "It might try to use the turret against us at close range.” Lorri@crystyl:"I would” Istar@anncaris | Meru: "The turret is about four metres forward and seven metres to the left of the top of the staircase. Might be able to get a grenade in position, if the throw is precise enough.” Lorri@crystyl:"Jorana's got a good throwing arm” Istar@anncaris | Jorana chuckles, "Jorana now regrets showing off…” Lorri@crystyl:"You can do it. Have a little faith" she grins Istar@anncaris | Jorana steps close to the top of the staircase, priming a grenade and tossing it in the direction of the turret. She ducks back down as a series of orange bolts flash above them, before there - Istar@anncaris:- is an explosion and the firing ceases. Raven checks her scanner and smiles, "Turret is destroyed and thrall is down.” Lorri@crystyl:"Nice job. Now let's get back to the cars and get on with this mission” Istar@anncaris | Suya: "We'll have to find other cars, and there might be non-combatants that need assistance here with thralls running loose in the habitat zone. Head to the containment area first, see what - Istar@anncaris:- support you can lend. We'll follow you there if the situation here is under control.” Lorri@crystyl:"Right!" --- T'Vek@anncaris | After taking out the turret, Mysti's team proceeds back to their hovercar and take off without further incident. They fly across the habitat zone, with the occasional flash visible below them - T'Vek@anncaris - as fighting rages across the Mothership. Soon, they enter another tunnel area, with the artificial daylight disappearing behind them. T'Vek@anncaris | Raven sets the hovercar down in another lot, "This should be the closest lot to one of the containment facilities. Lorri@crystyl:"Any signs of the Horde?” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru checks his scanner, "Yes. Several hallways down from current location. Reading An lifesigns as well, and weapons fire.” Lorri@crystyl:"Seems like that's our way forward then" T'Vek@anncaris | Meru nods, "This way." T'Vek@anncaris | The team pass through several hallways before coming onto one where a team of four Tel'darash officers are behind cover, two of them firing up but not seeming to hit anything. The other two T'Vek@anncaris - point their weapons at the new arrivals, but don't fire as they recognize the team as non-thralls T'Vek@anncaris | Masan Officer: "Stay back! They've got snipers ahead, we've already lost two!” Lorri@crystyl looks to Maru, "Can we get to a better position to take them out?” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru checks his scanner, "There's a way up to the top. The snipers are already on the highest possible elevation here, but at least going up will put this team at equal height.” Lorri@crystyl:"Better than the distinct disadvantage we have now" T'Vek@anncaris | Meru nods and turns, leading the way out of the hall and into a different area, eventually up a ladder and onto platforms not unlike the area they beamed in at T'Vek@anncaris | Before long, they reach a door where Meru stops and whispers, "Snipers are in the area just ahead.” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "I think the An are keeping them occupied. They probably don't know we're here and we might be able to get the drop on them.” Lorri@crystyl nods and signals the team to proceed with a stealth ambush T'Vek@anncaris | The team nods back and emerges from the door, immediately opening fire on the snipers ahead. Lorri@crystyl:rolls 52 (1-100) T'Vek@anncaris | Their shots take out two of the four snipers, but the diminuitive stature of the Phantom thralls prove difficult to aim at. The other two dart out of the way before returning fire, covering - T'Vek@anncaris - themselves rather than aiming and not hitting anyone, but forcing them into cover” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "Two hostiles remaining!” Lorri@crystyl:"Half way there. Keep it up!” T'Vek@anncaris:rolls 22 (1-100) T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana takes aim at one, but it ducks behind cover quickly as well, causing her shot to miss. Luckily, the enemy snipers' return fire also fail to hit through any of their cover T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "These things are hard to get a good shot at! I'm going to flush them out with a grenade; they'll probably manage to dodge the explosion but it should give us a chance to shoot them!” Lorri@crystyl:"Go for it” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven nods, tossing a grenade over her cover. As expected, the thralls leap away from it before the explosion has a chance to go off, but that gives the team a decent shot at them... Lorri@crystyl joins in the attempt to take the last two out T'Vek@anncaris | This time, they manage to hit the last two snipers, taken them out. Meru holsters one of his pistols and does a quick scan before announcing, "Clear, but I'm reading more thralls and - T'Vek@anncaris:- weapons fire close to our destination.” Lorri@crystyl calls down to the An below, "What's the situation down there?” T'Vek@anncaris | The An officer calls back, "No more casualties, but the teams at the containment facilities need assistance!” Lorri@crystyl:"We're heading there now. You've got more incoming so don't let them bed in again” T'Vek@anncaris | Masan Officer: "We'll watch your back. Don't let the Horde free those thralls. We might have no option but to kill them if they break out.” Lorri@crystyl:"We got this" she looks to the team, "Alright, time's a wasting. Let's get to Containment asap” T'Vek@anncaris | The team nods and they resume towards the Containment facility T'Vek@anncaris | They proceed through several more halls. Meru checks his scanner again and announces, "Meru cannot tell how many are ahead due to the lifesign readings of the thralls in containment, but the - T'Vek@anncaris:- weapons fire appear to have ceased.” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "Any An lifesigns?” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "No.” Lorri@crystyl:"That's not reassuring…” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven nods, "We should get there quickly before they free too many thralls.” Lorri@crystyl:"Let's press on then” T'Vek@anncaris | The team move forward quickly and come upon the entrance to the containment area, filled with Horde bodies with one Tel'darash officer discernable among all the corpses T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "Looks like the first door is open, but there should be another force field before the actual containment area.” Lorri@crystyl:"Let us hope there still is then” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana nods and takes cover to the side of the open door, peering in, "Jorana counts five...wait, those aren't thralls…” Lorri@crystyl:"Jorana?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "These are armoured, and seem to be defending the room instead of trying to open the field. Friendlies, most likely.” Lorri@crystyl:"But not An?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana shakes her head, "Not Regulator or Lupan either.” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru checks his scanner, "The lifesigns have some similarity to a few of the Horde thralls, but far less hybridized.” Lorri@crystyl:"Well, only way to find out then…” Lorri@crystyl peers out and calls to the unknown group, "Woah there” T'Vek@anncaris | A voice calls out on the other side, "Hold fire! They're not thralls!" The unknown group lowers their weapons, and a Clenduros steps forward. He is like no Clenduros Mysti had seen before, - T'Vek@anncaris:- dressed in ornate armour and holding a spear and a high-tech energy shield projector T'Vek@anncaris FX | https://i.imgur.com/EQm6YS0.jpg Lorri@crystyl steps forward a little too, slightly lowering her weapon, "I wasn't aware of any Clenduros serving here” T'Vek@anncaris | Clenduros: "I do not. I came on board to assist, like you I would suspect, given your outfit.” Lorri@crystyl:"Not going to argue with the extra firepower. What's the situation?” T'Vek@anncaris | Clenduros: "We were informed that this area needed assistance. We came to find it under siege. Regretfully, none of the local team survived the fight, but we have eliminated the thralls.” Lorri@crystyl:"Well. Guess that's that then” T'Vek@anncaris | Clenduros: "There are more thralls on the ship to hunt down, but we are holding this area until someone takes over. We do not wish for the thralls to free their own." Lorri@crystyl:"Yes that would be bad. Well if you've got things in hand here, we'll help secure other areas then” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven steps up from behind, holding out one of the An communicators, "Mysti. Found this on the body. You should hear it.” Lorri@crystyl takes it and listens T'Vek@anncaris | A message seems to be playing on repeat: "...Tel'darash personnel proceed to Central Operations immediately. This is Vice Marshal Pashti. Internal sensors indicate that all remaining Horde - T'Vek@anncaris:- thralls are regrouping and heading for the Mothership's Central Operations. With the exception of teams guarding the core, all available Tel'darash personnel proceed to Central Operations - T'Vek@anncaris:- immediately. This is Vice Marshal Pashti…” Lorri@crystyl:"Central Ops it is then. What's our route?” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana: "Back to the hovercar first. Central Ops is a little too far to get to in time on foot.” T'Vek@anncaris | Clenduros: "The Horde are running out of thralls on this ship. This is good. They're making one last desperate assault.” T'Vek@anncaris | Clenduros: "We'll head there as well. It's unlikely they'll make another push here.” Lorri@crystyl:"You sure on that? Would only take one thrall to slip the net and let this lot free to turn it all on it's head again” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "There's the Tel'darash group that was pinned by the snipers earlier. With most of the thralls moving off, the group can fall back and hold this point.” T'Vek@anncaris | The Clenduros nods, "My Guardians will be better at the final defense rather than watching this point.” Lorri@crystyl nods, "That works” T'Vek@anncaris | Clenduros: "We will proceed to Central Ops with you, then.” T'Vek@anncaris | The Clenduros waves and the rest of the Guardians form up on him, stepping out of the containment area Lorri@crystyl turns, "Alright. Shortest route to Ops” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven nods and begins leading the way. They come upon the An team soon, who turn to Mysti and the Clenduros, "Is the containment facility secure?” Lorri@crystyl nods, "For now. We are diverting to aid in Ops. We need your team to hold Containment until reinforcements arrive” T'Vek@anncaris | Masan Officer: "We got the message, but you'll probably do better at Central Ops. We'll make sure no thralls slip through here.” Lorri@crystyl nods an affirmative before quickly moving on T'Vek@anncaris | After some more travel through the halls, they reach the hovercar lot and enter their car again. The Guardians split up, their five-person team taking two different vehicles T'Vek@anncaris | The three lift off, flying out into the habitat zone again, though the area is darkening as the Mothership slowly transitions to night mode on its day-night cycle. --- T'Vek@anncaris FX | After a short hovercar ride, they come upon Central Operations, a large building built into the side of the habitat, right up against a part of the artificial skybox which is now settling - T'Vek@anncaris:- into nighttime. Lights of various colours flash as weapons fire is exchanged between Horde thralls and An defenders just outside the building Lorri@crystyl takes in the view, "Goddess, this puts Colonial Fleet HQ to shame” T'Vek@anncaris | Meru: "And this is just one ship, too…” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "If we touch down outside, we're going to have to fight our way past the Horde. I see a potential LZ up on a...dining terrace, I think?” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "We can set down there, pick off enemies from above and then make our way in to secure the building if we need to.” Lorri@crystyl:"Get us as close as you can. Hells, fly us right into Ops if you can!” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "I have a feeling we'll fit inside Ops, but I'm not so sure about the hallways leading up to it. Terrace is probably the closest we can get.” Lorri@crystyl laughs, "The Terrace'll be fine” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven chuckles and sets down the hovercar on the terrance, followed by the two Guardian hovercars. A few An snipers are already on the terrace and they give the new arrivals brief glances, only - T'Vek@anncaris:- to confirm that they weren't hostiles before getting back to picking off thralls” Lorri@crystyl looks around, readying her rifle, "Alright, final push. Let's make it count!” T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana smiles as she sets up her sniper rifle by the ledge, "This is what Jorana does best!” Lorri@crystyl:"Try not to have /too/ much fun Jorana" she teases with a smirk T'Vek@anncaris | Jorana chuckles, "Don't worry, Jorana will be sure to identify and focus on priority targets.” Lorri@crystyl:"Alright, let's press on” T'Vek@anncaris | One of the Guardians sets up on the terrace as well, while the Clenduros leads the rest of his team into the building T'Vek@anncaris | They proceed further into the building, almost large enough to be the size of a small ship on its own. Their passage through the halls is unimpeded until they reach the ground entrance where - T'Vek@anncaris:- fighting rages outside T'Vek@anncaris | As they approach, a familiar looking Vesan steps up to them T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "Glad you got the message too. We could use support here.” Lorri@crystyl:"Glad you made it. What can you tell us?” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "Nothing more than the Vice Marshal's told us. Looks like all remaining thralls are regrouping to push into Central Ops. Probably to sabotage as much of the Mothership as they can before - T'Vek@anncaris:- their numbers run out.” Lorri@crystyl:"Then let's stop them before they have a chance to regroup” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "We're cutting them off wherever we can, but a lot of thralls are already on their way here. We just have to hold Central Ops, they've got a lot less thralls already than they did a few - T'Vek@anncaris:- minutes ago.” Lorri@crystyl nods, "We'll follow your lead” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya glances out, "Looks like there's more incoming. Don't let them break through!” T'Vek@anncaris | The Tel'darash officers outside begin opening fire at the incoming wave. A few of them take hits, but the Horde take more casualties thanks to the advantages provided by the defensive setup Lorri@crystyl leads her team to reinforce the Tel'darash line T'Vek@anncaris | The Guardians set up along the defenses as well, and before long, the ground is littered with dead, malformed thrall corpses T'Vek@anncaris | As the shooting stops, Suya's comm sounds and she opens it, "...entrance two breached. Thralls headed further into the building, they've got a Psionic!” Lorri@crystyl:"Well isn't that just peachy... which way?” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "We should fall back to Ops, reinforce one of the entrances from there.” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya turns and leads the way, the Guardians following along as well Lorri@crystyl:"We'll follow you” T'Vek@anncaris | As they travel through the halls of the building, Meru announces, "Seven thralls in the hall ahead.” T'Vek@anncaris | Clenduros: "We'll handle this. Phalanx formation.” T'Vek@anncaris | The Clenduros steps in front, the energy shield on one arm activated as he holds his spear at the ready. The three other Guardians with him now take position behind him, raising their rifles T'Vek@anncaris | The thralls turn the corner and come into view, with the Guardians opening fire and taking out the front three immediately. The Clenduros moves with surprising speed and agility, blocking the - T'Vek@anncaris:- return fire that come near his teammates before darting forwards, his spear cutting through one thrall and knocking another down in one fluid motion. More shots from the Guardians finishes off - T'Vek@anncaris:- the one he knocked down and another thrall beside him, while the third tries to charge in but is impaled on the spear” T'Vek@anncaris | Clenduros: "All clear.” Lorri@crystyl:"Show off..." she teases, clearly impressed and approving of the display T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "I've only heard about these Guardians, but they look like they live up to their reputation. Come on, let's get to Central Ops.” Lorri@crystyl nods T'Vek@anncaris | Before long, they enter Central Ops, an area that looks roughly like a starship bridge, but absolutely massive. On the front end is a large window with a view of the space beyond, while the - T'Vek@anncaris - rest of the area is filled with consoles and viewscreens. Many of them are manned by An wearing similar uniforms to the Tel'darash, but with white trimmings where the Tel'darash uniforms are - T'Vek@anncaris - red. Tel'darash officers also fill the room, mostly setting up defenses around the edges with a few in the centre T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "All of the entrances could use more reinforcement. Probably best to split the two teams among- “ T'Vek@anncaris | The Tel'darash officers at one entrance jump aside as the Lupan team bounds in and turns around, opening fire and mowing down a tide of thralls T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "Three teams, you know what i mean!” Lorri@crystyl smirks a little and nods, calling over to the Lupan, "Glad you made it to the party, hunters! I would hate to have been disappointed to see us surpassing you!” T'Vek@anncaris | Lupan: "Of course we would make it! There's a lot more of these abominations coming, enough for everyone!" Lorri@crystyl nods, "Then let's show these An what we can do, hunters!” T'Vek@anncaris | The entrance behind them opens as Horde thralls begin pouring in from that hall, and soon shooting can be heard all around Central Ops Lorri@crystyl ducks into cover along with her team and begins the game of shooting fish in a barrel Lorri@crystyl:rolls 51 (1-100) T'Vek@anncaris | More and more Horde thralls soon pour in, but Mysti and her team manage to keep them at bay, with her teammates and An support tossing in the occasional grenade when the numbers get too much T'Vek@anncaris:rolls 45 (1-100) T'Vek@anncaris | The Lupan side nearly gets overwhelmed, but when the Lupan enter the fray with blades and claws and teeth, their sheer weight and raw destructiveness pushes the thralls back, stemming the tide T'Vek@anncaris:rolls 46 (1-100) T'Vek@anncaris | The Guardians manage to hold their entrance as well, with any thralls that slip by the killzone cut down by the Clenduros' expert skill with his spear and shield T'Vek@anncaris:rolls 47 (1-100) T'Vek@anncaris:| Additional An rush over to reinforce the side without support from other teams, and they manage to keep the Horde at bay as well... Lorri@crystyl:rolls 53 (1-100) T'Vek@anncaris | The Lupan tear through the thralls in close quarters when suddenly they are sent flying backwards across the room. As their lines break, a purple thrall with hands outstretched is revealed, - T'Vek@anncaris:- but quickly concealed as other thralls swarm around it, throwing themselves at the Tel'darash on that side or charging into the room T'Vek@anncaris | An Officer: "We have a breach!” T'Vek@anncaris | Suya: "That must be the Psionic they mentioned…” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven: "If only Jorana's here to snipe it off…” Lorri@crystyl:"No doubt about it. That's our priority target” T'Vek@anncaris | Several of the defenders across the room turn around, opening fire and trying to stem the Horde now rushing in the gap where the Lupan were pushed back. The Lupan recover quickly, throwing - T'Vek@anncaris:- themselves into the fray and cutting down thralls across Central Ops, but their limited numbers aren't enough to seal the breach again Lorri@crystyl focuses on the Psionic, scanning the area around them for structural or environmental exploits T'Vek@anncaris | There doesn't seem to be anything nearby to exploit except consoles, but the Psionic is not near it, and also now surrounded by a number of other thralls T'Vek@anncaris | Suddenly, the bridge lights up with transporter beams, but these are more like flashes than conventional beams. Suited Regulators materialize almost instantly, and now it is the Horde's chance - T'Vek@anncaris:- to be thrown back as four Regulators line up and raise their arms, sending the thralls at the breached entrance flying out of the room. The Psionic raises its arms, managing to use its power to - T'Vek@anncaris:- stay rooted, but the thralls around it are pushed back, giving a clear shot at it. Lorri@crystyl is quick to take the shot, leaving nothing to chance T'Vek@anncaris | Mysti's shot goes through the Psionic's chest and it slumps to the ground Lorri@crystyl:"Impeccible timing" she calls over to the Regulators T'Vek@anncaris | More Regulators step over to the three other entrances, holding up their arms and pushing the thralls back, leaving them easy kills for the teams guarding the doors T'Vek@anncaris | The Regulator coming over to Mysti's entrance gives her a nod, "We were told the Mothership needed assistance, but the others were unable to send further reinforcements due to the vessel's - T'Vek@anncaris:- shields.” Lorri@crystyl:"This should be the last of the loose Horde on board” T'Vek@anncaris | One of the white-uniformed An checks a console and nods, "Only four more thralls in the building.” Lorri@crystyl:"That thing show you where?” T'Vek@anncaris | The An nods, and another red-uniformed An steps over, "We can handle this from here. All our allies who came here, thank you for your assistance.” Lorri@crystyl turns to the Regulators, "What's the situation elsewhere?” T'Vek@anncaris | The Operator by Mysti turns to her again, "We've rescued all we can from Terminu. Regrettably, the rest of the planet had to be purged. There is one complication, however.” Lorri@crystyl:"Why am I not surprised…” T'Vek@anncaris | Operator: "Our vessel has destroyed the Horde in immediate pursuit. However, we cannot proceed with the original plan of regrouping at the Waystation.” Lorri@crystyl:"What happened?” T'Vek@anncaris | Operator: "We left Terminu too late with the last batch of evacuations. By the current speed of the Horde and the maximum speed of certain Coalition ships, at least some vessels will still be - T'Vek@anncaris:- on the Horde's long range sensors when they reach the Waystation. We are counting on the ones we freed so far to be safe at the Waystation because the Horde will no longer be able to sense them, - T'Vek@anncaris:- and the Nuhar can interfere with scans of the planet so the Horde will not find them if they pass near. They will no longer be safe if we lead the Horde there.” Lorri@crystyl:"The Coalition knew it was an optimistic plan, I'm sure our leadership isn't so naive as to be banking purely on Plan-A working out” T'Vek@anncaris | Operator: "We should be able to regroup at a secondary location, provided that this vessel will be able to proceed without repair facilities." She looks to An in the room T'Vek@anncaris | One of the white uniformed An responds, "We will need repairs, but preliminary damage report suggests we should be able to do them on our own. The damage is primarily in internal systems - T'Vek@anncaris:- sabotaged by the thralls and not to the superstructure.” Lorri@crystyl:"Then it sounds like the sooner we get the fleet moving, the better. We should get back to our ship” T'Vek@anncaris | Operator: "We've destroyed the vessels in immediate pursuit, so it will be safe to lower shields now.” T'Vek@anncaris | The Tel'darash officer in the centre gives a nod and the white-uniformed An taps her console before announcing, "Shields are down.” Lorri@crystyl looks to her team, "You all ready to go home?” T'Vek@anncaris | Raven nods, "I think it's been an exciting enough day for us all.” Lorri@crystyl nods, turning briefly to the other fighters, "It's been fun folks" and to Suya, "and don't forget that hoverbike" she smiles and winks before tapping her comm panel for beamout T'Vek@anncaris | Suya smiles back, "We'll get it to you once our transporters are back up. Or ship it in a shuttle if we have to.” T'Vek@anncaris | Mysti and her team disappear into transporter beams...