LtJG Gila Sadar - The Ghosts of the Past Invading the Present
Gila Sadar
((Turbolift - USS Artemis-A))
MacKenzie: Alright, tell me what you know about the Borg and I’ll try to supplement where I can…
To say that Gila was an expert would be a huge exaggeration, but thanks to her isolated background and late induction into everything Starfleet, she supposed she’d had to read up on a lot more of the Federation’s backstory in a short timeframe than people who grew up within it. It helped that she found historical research relaxing and extremely interesting, even if xenohistory was filled with extraordinarily many violent conflicts. How many times had the Klingons and the Federation been at war at this point!?
The Borg were, of course, another can of worms entirely, but Gila had a decent recollection of the peculiar species of cybernetically altered humanoids. She remembered the abject horror that had filled her mind when she read it. Much could be said of the warlike Klingons, but they’d left Mizabet in much the same manner as they’d found it. If the Borg ever happened upon her homeworld, considering their way of peaceful non-resistance and submission? Well, there would be no Mizarians left.
Sadar: Rumors of encounters with the Borg crop up every few years. Usually renegade drones or defunct wrecks. The attack on the USS Nimitz was theorized to be by a separated group of drones, not the wider Collective. It’s possible that’s also what we’re facing here...
Beck: Lots of horror stories. 'Android zombies' is the first phrase that comes to mind, though that's hardly accurate either way since they're still biological and living, not undead. I think it's the shambling and holding out their arms to try to assimilate you that does it.
Salkath: Captured technology over the years gives us a good base of information on what we may see aboard the cube. Should we need to find any particular systems or components, we can locate information in databases downloaded to our tricorders.
Savel: The Borg's response to our presence will likely be directly correlated to the actions that we take. Our appearance will be noted, but I do not anticipate an immediately hostile response. That will, however, change as soon as we do something that interferes with their tasks or functions. ::beat:: It will also likely be uncomfortably warm for the majority of our group.
Gila frowned slightly at that. Mizarians didn’t do well in heat. They’d long since evolved past the point of needing hydration in order to survive life on ground, but they were still descended from an aquatic species. Then again, her dermatological layers had survived a holographic excursion to Vulcan, so surely a Borg Cube wouldn’t be a problem… Right?
Jovenan: The primary Collective in the Delta Quadrant has been quiet for a while now, at least what comes to major attacks. The recent… events aboard the Stargazer prove that the Collective can fraction. Though I don’t remember the details of the Nimitz attack. ::to Sadar:: Doctor?
Sadar: I’d just started studying medicine at Starbase 118 when the attack happened. Lieutenant Bailey’s new medication was the dominant topic of conversation on campus, regardless of one’s specialty. ::wrecks her brain:: It was made on a Noroline base, but I don’t recall the rest of the details off the top of my head. I’m sure it’s all in the computers.
She found it very embarrassing that she couldn’t even accurately remember the details of a failsafe that she herself had brought up, but regardless of this lapse of memory, the Captain seemed satisfied.
MacKenzie: Doctors, make sure you replicate several doses and include it in your medkits.
Sadar: Yes Sir.
The turbolift stopped and the doors opened. Across the hall, the door to Transporter Room 1 slid open to allow them inside, but something was rather out of the ordinary to the usually meticulous professionalism with which the Operations division handled the upkeep of the Artemis. Several large crates littered the room.
MacKenzie: Arm yourselves - sidearms and rifles for everyone. Standard Borg protocol – weapons should be set on rotating so it will take them longer to adapt.
The band of obsidian was twisted before the order had even been brought to its logical end. Looking on as her fellow crewmembers started arming themselves, all that Gila could consciously decide on - for the moment - was to reach for a tricorder and strap it to her side. Her dark eyes darted anxiously from one to the other as they armed themselves with phasers, and even rifles, the ghosts of 5.320.832 people whispering in her tympani, a single strand of logic attempting to overpower them.
oO Resist not the turn of the Wheel and let the guidance of the ancestors provide the lessons of the future... Violence is the cursed spring from which all suffering flows. Sacrifice that which is dear and let the Wheel guide your way. Oo
Mizarians did not resist. Mizarians greeted their conquerors, their invaders, the barbarisms associated with otherness, with open arms and bowed backs. Resisting the Borg in any way, much less with violence, was the least Mizarian thing she could possibly do.
And yet, it took but a brief moment of Kolya’s face - still trapped in the throes of youth, not a child but barely a man - to drift before her mind’s eye before she realized she had picked up a phaser. Her eyes misted over as her trembling fingers grabbed the harsh material, feeling her frail grip on any semblance of a moral codex - already stretched to the breaking point - threaten to give from her slight.
Today, she couldn’t be a Mizarian. Today, she had to be a Starfleet Officer with a nephew three sectors away.
Salkath: ::nodding affirmatively once completing the order:: Check.
Jovenan: Aye, Captain.
Savel: Ready, Captain.
Gila didn’t trust her voice as she awkwardly strapped the phaser to herself, instead just opting for a dutiful nod. It wasn’t that she honestly believed she would be able to do anything with the phaser. She’d be much more use with the hypo sprays...
MacKenzie: If there’s any equipment that you need that isn’t here, now’s your chance.
Nice timing.
Ignoring her fellow crew for a moment - barely able to think of anything but the unwelcome weight at her hip - Gila didn’t realize that Doctor Beck had fetched a first aid kit for her use until he stood right in front of her, handing it her way. She blinked, her large dark eyes slowly returned to a regular glisten as she forced tears of shame away. How glad she was that there were no Empaths among them currently...
Beck: Doctor.
Sadar: Th-Thank you, Doctor Beck.
Zoning out once more as she deliberated on her equipment, Gila struggled to ascertain what else she could bring that would be useful. The medicine was as much as she could consider as being a ‘one-up’ on the Borg that Starfleet had created in the past few years, and anything older than that would likely be a waste of space and resources, considering the Borg’s capacity for adaptation.
To be frank, it would be a miracle if they hadn’t already devised some countermeasure against Lieutenant Bailey’s formula, but all she could do was hope.
And follow orders.
Edgington: =/\= Bridge to Transporter Room 1, we’re in range of the Cube. =/\=
The point of no return. Every member of the away team stepped onto the transporter pad, each with a different degree of trepidation and concern. Their task was before them - monumental as it was - and they had done all they could do to prepare for it.
At least, that’s what Gila’s told herself, as her obsidian band was twisted a few extra times.
MacKenzie: Energize.
((Borg Cube))
As they each materialized inside of the Cube, the blue light dissipated and they were now standing under a peculiar nuance of dim green lighting, which - even to someone culturally removed from the legacy of the Borg - felt ominous. But moreso than the light, what most alarmed Gila was the background hum. The thrumming bass of live machinery, and not the comforting kind like the sensation of the Artemis in flight. The heartbeat of a Borg Cube was something else entirely… And yet, beyond the pulse of the oppressive vessel itself, there was no other immediate sign of life. No sounds of traffic, no sounds of machinery.
And Gila didn’t know whether that was a good or a bad thing.
MacKenzie/Salkath/Beck: Responses
Sadar: ::quiet:: Understood Sir.
The small group of officers immediately set to their scans, facing opposite directions in order to guard each others’ flanks.
Jovenan: Atmosphere standard. Relative humidity at 92%, the Borg standard, but the temperature is down by several degrees, at 32 Celsius. ::pause:: No lifesigns in immediate proximity, sir.
Savel: I believe we are clear. For the moment.
Sadar: The Borg do not require a standardized temperature to function, so the lowered temperature would not be an impediment to them. ::looks towards the Captain and Salkath:: Perhaps the lowered temperature is a consequence of the inert state of the Cube?
MacKenzie/Salkath/Beck: Response
Savel: There is something... odd... about this particular Cube.
Sadar: Beyond the absence of drones, I presume. ::fidgets with the tricorder:: According to my scans, there are no active lifesigns within a radius of 500 metres, including upper and lower decks.
MacKenzie/Salkath/Beck/Jovenan: Response
Savel: I find it highly illogical for the Borg, rogue or not, to abandon what appears on the surface to be a fully functioning vessel. ::beat:: As redundant as it may be for me to say, I will still do so as the only security officer present, we should use extreme caution in navigating the Cube and prior to interacting with any portion of it.
MacKenzie/Salkath/Beck/Jovenan: Response
Sadar: ::considers:: If this Cube was designed with drones in mind, the access points the drones utilize to access the Cube’s systems should still be present. Perhaps finding one such access point could give us some answers? As would the absence of one.
MacKenzie/Salkath/Beck/Jovenan/Savel: Response
TAG/TBC
LtJG Gila Sadar
Medical Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240006GS1