Lt Jovenan – Real treasure was the friends we made along the way
Jovenan
((Deck 8, USS Artemis))
As they moved on, more dangerous challenges kept appearing in their path. However, stopping was not an option either, so they kept moving.
Jovenan could observe the signs of combat by the Intel Hub’s door from the relative safety where she and her team hadn’t yet been noticed. So far, the drones didn’t appear to be able to detect them using the ship’s internal sensors or other technological means they had in their possession. They couldn’t trust that to remain the case for long, so, since they needed to distract the drones here, they may as well greet two people with one hug.
MacKenzie: What do you have in mind?
Jovenan: The tricorder and combadge combination, for example, can fabricate a tactical conversation. I think we could try simulating that we’re going to the Tactical, or put the badges in the turbolift and have them go somewhere in Science a deck below. The Borg might find us a priority target, especially if they think we have a plan.
Hopper: ::Nod:: I like it. Where would we be heading if we were trying to knock out Fleet Formation Mode? The Central Computer? We can send them there.
Silveira: Or Main Engineering. Either make sense.
Jovenan nodded along. The destination of their distraction for the Borg had to be sufficiently important or close to pull off the drones from where they were, but also far away enough so that they wouldn’t find the same assimilated crewmembers on their paths again. All those were equally good options in her mind.
Hopper: It’s a plausible destination for our group. I think they’ll buy it – at least at first. Besides, I think our next destination should be Sickbay. ::To MacKenzie:: We know a little about the borg tech that did this. Maybe with your CMO’s help we can find a way to counteract the effect?
Hopefully, they could device a cure with Genkos after reaching him… presuming he was still safe, a presumption Jovenan was forcing onto herself. There were still multiple steps before they could do that, not least avoiding being destroyed like the Excelsior. But as Vitor had said, one problem at a time, and their one problem right now was reaching Savel.
The Captain nodded slowly.
MacKenzie: Let’s proceed.
Jovenan: Aye, sir.
Hopper: ::To Jovenan:: We can set our tricorders to emit false biosignatures. The signals will be weak, but the combadge can help boost the signals. ::To Mackenzie:: Your badge, Captain?
Silveira: We better hurry.
Jovenan nodded to both Commander Hopper and Vitor as she raised her tricorder to programme it to the specifications the Commander had ordered. Commander Hopper was quick to open the casing of the combadge – without triggering the emergency signal, she hoped – and was already reprogramming it. Jovenan, too, tried to be as fast as she possibly could without jeopardizing the credibility of the diversion. Fabricating biosigns wasn’t a standard use of a tricorder, but Jovenan knew how to do that; it was sometimes used in training simulations, to stand in for lost or injured individuals or evasive species or anything living, really. She had considered doing so in the most recent tricorder exercise, but then the Rakanthan nature had given a more realistic alternative – if only she had gone with the original plan.
Commander Hopper handed over the combadge to Jovenan. She had managed to have the tricorder to emit the biosigns of the team, even have an algorithm to create a conversation of tactical nature in case the Borg did manage to tap into their badges, but nothing else. With some time, anyone with computer expertise would be able to see through their ruse; she relied on the Borg to not have time to do so before they had made it to their next location. Jovenan placed the tricorder and the combadge to the floor of the turbolift and silently set the car to travel towards the computer core a few decks above them. When the doors closed and their red herring was on its way, the team returned their attention to the Intel Hub.
They had already noticed that at least one unassimilated crewmember had been there to fight with the drones, but as they got closed, Jovenan also caught Savel’s voice in the air. She was delighted to know he had survived after his initial call for help, though he wasn’t entirely out of the immediate danger either, as several echoing voices calling for their elimination dominated her hearing.
The team approached the remaining drones, and, taking advantage of the element of surprise, stunned the drones. Jovenan felt awful as her phaser rifle released a blast that hit a drone to the back, but this was not the time and place for their standard combat courtesies. Savel and another gold-shirt lieutenant jg appeared immediately afterwards.
MacKenzie: Good to see you, Lieutenants.
Delri’ise: Glad to see you all— Savel, you good?
Savel: Response?
Jovenan looked at the two security lieutenants. They were not in the best possible shape, but neither were all of them. The two new lieutenants and Commander Hopper should get medical attention, Vitor too, but their chances for that were sadly limited. The Captain was a doctor, and they might find a medkit somewhere, but if they stopped, the Borg might reach them. But, at least, they were still mostly standing and probably able to continue fighting in some capacity. Jovenan was worried; it might feel like they were at the rock-bottom of their lives, but be assured, there was still a long way down.
Silveira: Lieutenants…
Hopper: No time for a meet and greet. Any idea what they want in the Hub, or how many there are inside?
Commander Hopper reminded that they were in the middle of a battlefield. Jovenan stepped a bit away from the crowd, ready to defend in case a drone decided to turn up or wake up from the stun. They hadn’t observed yet how long it took for them to stand up after being stunned, but it was safer if they wouldn’t stay there to find out either.
Delri’ise: I mean— it’s an Intel Suite, they didn’t seize it for the comfy chairs.
Savel: Response
MacKenzie: Is the suite secure?
Savel/Hopper: Response
Jovenan: The Borg have assimilated a large portion of Starfleet, probably including people with secret information or access to it. If there was something to their interest, they probably have it already, no matter what we do.
There seemed to be some correlation between being assimilated and rank, with all the senior officers on the ship still continuing to fight while all the junior officers had succumbed to the Borg. Since the senior-most officers were more likely to have confidential information, the Borg may not have gained it directly, but Jovenan didn’t believe it would take them long to breach the information security anyway. Besides, data protection was a secondary concern right now. The rank-assimilation connection wasn’t a perfect fit either, as they had already witnessed some officer who outranked Savel seeking to eliminate them, and not many senior NCOs in the Borg’s ranks. The causation was elsewhere.
Silveira: Let’s not linger too long here.
MacKenzie: Well we can’t stand out here in the open. Hopefully them tracking my signal will be enough of a diversion, but it won’t be long before they catch on.
Silveira: We better follow Commander Hopper’s suggestion and head to Sickbay, while we can.
Jovenan: Agreed. They’ll need our help ::looks at group:: and we theirs.
Hopper/Savel: Response
Delri’ise: I’m not gonna be much use up front, I’ll watch our caboose in case somethin’ sneaks up on us.
Jovenan pursed her lips. Maybe they’d better place the most injured officers in the middle and let those in a better condition take the front and the rear. Jovenan, somehow still unharmed, might suit better to take that role, even if the Lieutenant was undoubtedly more skilled than her.
Silveira: Are you OK to do that Lieutenant?
Without waiting for the response, Vitor turned to the Captain.
Silveira: Once we retake Sickbay we can leave the Lieutenant there to guard it.
MacKenzie/Hopper/Savel: Response
The Lieutenant rose and checked her phaser. Despite her injuries, which in normal circumstance and maybe even some more typical crisis situation might have meant forcing her to retire from the mission, she was clearly determined to continue.
Delri’ise: All right, got it, hard and fast. There might be more still on this deck so we should be careful.
Vitor tipped head to Savel.
Silveira: Should I take point Lieutenant Savel? Since I have the rifle.
Savel: Response
Jovenan took her phaser rifle in both hands and held it horizontally. Both the rifle and the pistol were lethal, and the benefit the rifle offered in comparison to the small arms was probably wasted on Jovenan, whose success in combat training was not something she was particularly proud of.
Jovenan: I can swap for a pistol if someone wants a rifle instead.
MacKenzie/Hopper/Delri’ise: Response
The more experienced fighters took their positions. The corridor appeared empty for now, but Jovenan didn’t know if it would remain like that for much longer. Unexpectedly, Vitor turned his head towards Jovenan and Commander Hopper.
Silveira: Commander Hopper, Lieutenant Jovenan, you can still track the assimilated movement’s… Right?
Jovenan: I, uh, used my tricorder to distract them. Commander?
Hopper/MacKenzie/Savel/Delri’ise: Response
Jovenan frowned. They’d have to do with limited sensing capabilities until they’d reach the Sickbay or they’d randomly find a tricorder on their way there. The Science Centre was just a deck below, but still too far for Jovenan to sneak into her office and get one. Besides, the one she had sent away had been her favourite tricorder – it better be still there after they were done with the drones.
Silveira: Shall we get to it Captain
Hopper/MacKenzie/Savel/Delri’ise: Response
Jovenan: Should we trust that the Borg haven’t gained control of the turbolifts yet? There’s the risk they trap us there or lead us to a large number of drones.
Hopper/MacKenzie/Savel/Delri’ise/Silveira: Response
She had wished they didn’t need to suggest any other alternative. The Jefferies tubes were awful to use. Even the ship’s corridors had always felt too confining to her, with her cultural preference to running or jogging everywhere, so crawling in the maintenance corridors were torture to her. And considering she was the smallest of the group – besides the other security jaygee, she seemed to be about equal to her in height – so she could imagine how the others might feel going through them.
The last time she had been to the Tubes was during the Suliban pirate attack, if she remembered correctly, when she, the Captain, Doctor Sadar and Commander Yalu climbed down to redirect the flow of the anaesthetic gas to a safer location. Back then, they had made their way to the Sickbay, like now, where they had met the adowable EMH puppet and Crewman Renirs, who told them they had just missed Talos, Hiro and, um, the old Security Chief… Wait.
Jovenan: Isn’t there a direct access tunnel to the Sickbay somewhere here? I think Commander Dakora and the others used it during the Suliban pirate attack.
Jovenan hadn’t used it personally, so she didn’t actually know where the other end of the tunnel was, or if it existed any more; there had been some renovations done to the Intel hub. She hoped the Captain or maybe someone else might know it better.
Hopper/MacKenzie/Savel/Delri’ise/Silveira: Response
They continued to the direction the Captain had chosen for them. Jovenan’s heart had been racing the entire time, and she had to focus on her breath to try and calm herself down. Over the steady sound of a drum beating in her chest and the flow of air to her lungs, she heard another sound, something very familiar yet entirely unnatural; more drones were approaching.
Six of Ten (Yiddik)/Four of Six (Filistrien)/Ten of Ten (Kel)/Other drones: Response
((OOC: I added tags to the drones in around the right area (I think), but whether or not they specifically arrive is yours to choose. Don’t be too shy to cause trouble to our team!))
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant Jovenan
Chief Science Officer
USS Artemis-A
E239911J11