((25 Kilometers away from the Amity Outpost, Workbee Three))
Paarus: =/\= Paarus to Ambassador Vataix. Group Gamma will be crossing the halfway mark in a few minutes. =/\=
Vataix: =/\= Excellent. I think that's our cue to launch the Independence. =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= Aye, around 25 clicks to go. Slowly increasing speed. Hey does anyone know how fast these things can travel? =/\=
Paarus: =/\= Roger that, Ambassador. =/\=
oO That is a good question, Commander. Oo Zalbac wondered if the animals are migratory. If he had a chance to interact with the Halwat, he might ask.
Zalbac's workbee drifted past the halfway mark and he tapped his comm to his workbee group.
((OOC: I'm adding a few NPC into my workbee group as we work to move the stellae away from the station. Lt. Johson is a human male, Ensign Jr Grade Chawat is a Bolian male, Lt. H'Nala is a Cation female, I also added some tags for Katie Toliver))
Paarus: =/\= Ensign Paarus to Group Gamma. We are crossing the halfway point. Get your drones ready to be deployed. Once we get 50 kilometers out from Amity, we are going to need to detach our drowns and high tail it back to the station. =/\=
Zalbac wondered if he was taking too much initiative again. He was a natural leader and realized his take control attitude might need to be tempered a bit. The team began reporting in.
Johnson: =/\= Understood Ensign. We still have 30 stellae on our tails. Keep your wits about you, don't let them get too close. Lieutenant Johnson out. =/\=
Chawat: =/\= ::with the usual Bolian enthusiasm:: We are with you ensign! Ensign Chawat out. =/\=
H'Nala: =/\= ::sounding slightly annoyed:: Enisgn Paars, call out your heading. We must keep a tight formation on our way back to the station to minimize our workbee exhaust emissions so the stellae don't follow us back to Amity. Lieutentant H'Nala out. =/\=
Toliver: =/\= Response? =/\=
((OOC: Happy to back sim here if needed))
Zalbac looked down at his controls. Lieutenant H'Nala was right, he hadn't given out a heading yet. In fact, he wasn't sure of exactly where he was going. There was his self-doubt again like a constant drumbeat in the back of his mind. He usually overcompensated with dictating quick responses and tried not to worry too much about the consequences. Zalbac never made decisions he couldn't undo and mitigated risks to himself and others as much as he could.
Paarus: =/\= Group Gamma, set your head towards the nebula. Vector 347 mark 118. =/\=
Johnson: =/\= Copy. Course laid in. I'm following you ensign. =/\=
Chawat: =/\= Rightie-o. Adjusting my heading. =/\=
N'Hala: =/\= Copy Ensign. The nebula is going to confuse the workbee navigational sensors. Do NOT get us too close. =/\=
Toliver: =/\= Response =/\=
Zalbac wasn't sure if that was the appropriate course of action but it was a course of action. He hoped that getting the stellae closer to the nebula would help keep them in place as Group Gamma made an exit back to Amity. As Zalbac began punching in the new heading into his workbee console, he noted that the stellae trailing his workbee group were becoming more tightly clustered. It seemed as if the stellae were pairing up. They were also increasing their speed. He estimated they had just a couple of minutes before the 30 would overtake workbee group gamma. oO We're supposed to be leading you, not the other way around. Oo Zalbac thought. He was perplexed at the changing dynamics of this situation and realized he would have rather not been the de facto leader of his group. That's when his comm badge chirped bring his focus back from his internal thoughts.
Ukinix: =/\= Ukinix to Amity. The Stellae are behaving in a way we haven’t seen before. I’m transmitting you sensor information. Can we ask one of the Hawlat if they know what they’re doing? =/\=
Vataix: =/\= Yes, we'll forward the information to them. Have they changed their behavior towards you? =/\=
Ukinix: =/\= Response =/\=
Paarus: =/\= Ambassador, the stellae have increased their speed and we are struggling to keep in front of... ::abruptly::What the hell? =/\=
A stellae had appeared above his workbee. Its color had become decidedly more purple-hued. A tendril was dragged across his workbee leaving a phosphorescent residue on his front window. The workbee shuttered and engines whined as it tried to maintain its heading. Zalbac tried to compensate but the workbee stuttered and then stopped. He was now adrift. Reading his console it appeared as if the stellae goo had gotten into the primary drive systems and navigational sensors.
As he drifted he tried to manually reboot his systems but the workbee engines made an awful gurgle before cutting out again. Zalbac saw the USS Independence-B fly into his view. The defiant class ship looked tough and was easily keeping ahead of the herd.
Johnson: =/\= Ensign. I saw a stellae get awfully close to your workbee. Are you alright? =/\=
Paarus: =/\= I'm fine but my workbee is covered in this phosphorescent goo from the stellae. I'm working on resetting my systems now. Don't let them get too close to you. =/\=
N'Hala: =/\= The stellae are gaining on us. Group Gamma, let's give the stellae more space and increase the distance between each workbee. That should give us some flexibilty to dodge any future contacts with the stellae. =/\=
Toliver: =/\= Response =/\=
Chawat: =/\= Understood, Lieutenant. =/\=
Zalbac rebooted his workbee systems a couple of times. Each time the engines appeared to respond with a gurgle and then stopped. A strange smell began filling his cockpit. oO That goo must be hin the thruster manifold. This workbee is going to need a deep cleaning when I get back to Amity. Oo
The stellae that had hit him had disabled his workbee. It was clearly unharmed by the contact with Zalbac's workbee and playfully danced in front of Zalbac. It was continuing in the direction he was heading. He could see the rest of his workbee group continuing on the primary heading towards the nebula. They were moving along with the stellae as the herd had gained significant ground on the workbees.
Paarus: =/\= Paarus to Amity. I had a run-in with a stellae and my workbee is disabled. Requesting a beam out. =/\=
His workbee was buffeted by the trailing stellae as they over took his position. Zalbac had to admit that they were beautiful creatures up close. Their agility surprised him and he wondered how they were able to move the way they did in the vacuum of space. The 30 that were trailing his group had grown in number. All of them had taken on a purple-hue. Zalbac looked at his console readout, it appeared as if the herd was starting to consolidate. He noted that workbee groups Alpha, Beta, and Delta were still leading the herd of animals. Group Epsilon seemed to be in a similar position as his group and was struggling to keep in front of the herd.
Vataix/Ukinix: =/\= Response =/\=
oO Could this day get any worse? Oo Zalbac frustratedly thought to himself.
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Ensign Paarus Zalbac
Operations Officer
Amity Outpost
A239811PZ4
