Lieutenant JG Savel - A Smorgasbord of Borg. A Smorgas-Borg!
Savel
((Borg Cube))
When Savel had originally learned that he was going to be accompanying the team over to the Cube, he had wanted to ask about taking a security team with him. Even with all of the others armed, he would have preferred to see a few more gold shirts mingled in with them.
Their presence certainly would have been an additional comfort, not only to him but surely to the others as well, but they were also needed on board the Artemis. Whoever had sabotaged their communications were likely not going to stop at only one essential system. The more security they had to post around the ship, the better.
The Vulcan security officer was just going to have to make due with the fact he was the only security-oriented member of the group and adjust his actions accordingly.
Salkath: Assuming this ship has recently traveled here, as the Artemis scans indicated prior to our arrival, then it could stand to reason that this vessel has been modified to operate independent of drone presence. It is completely against all conventional wisdom of Borg tactics, but needs to be considered.
MacKenzie: The Borg are here, even if they’re not here. This cube only arrived a few days ago, and we have no indication that any entity, Starfleet or otherwise, detected their presence. I refuse to believe they just got here on autopilot… Let’s see if we can find an access point or a power node.
The logistics and science of this mission were outside of Savel's expertise. And even with his recent promotion he was still one of the more junior officers on the team. He let those higher up than him and more qualified in him in those areas make the decisions on how best to proceed. He figured the most valuable way he could contribute was by doing everything he could to make sure they all made it back to the Artemis whenever their mission was accomplished here.
Savel: Even if this ship were modified to run without the normal complement of drones, I still find it unlikely the Borg would allow any technology to be left unattended. We should expect to find a drone presence on board. Especially near sensitive areas.
Just because they had landed in what could be considered a technically "safe" zone on the Cube, that didn't mean the rest of it was going to be that way. As the group continued on, most of them were guided by their tricorders and what information was being filtered through to them.
Savel certainly wasn't against using technology to assist, that was an illogical stance to take, but he knew they'd need at least a few trusting their eyes to look for any potential threats that wouldn't be picked up on a tricorder. So, as they walked along he kept a grip on his rifle and his head on a swivel.
Beck: There. Looks like the access points on this level are all shut down, but there's one on the next deck down that's getting power.
Salkath: Yes, a distribution node. One level down and 100 meters ahead. We may be able to access this ship's tactical database from that.
MacKenzie: Let’s go.
The tricorders had at least given them a direction to go in. There was a higher chance of accidentally triggering some failsafe or alarm if they just wandered about in the ship aimlessly. Now they could move with a purpose towards an actual destination.
Sadar: Yes Captain.
Savel: With caution, please.
He was sounding like a broken record, but he was going to repeat that message any chance he got. It wasn't unlike other species to lose sight of logic in favor of emotional responses to dangers or threats. That was usually when things went wrong, at least according to the Vulcan.
They were all now moving towards the next deck, hoping to find something that would give them information on the Cube. Most importantly why it was here and how. Their progress was steady and the more of the Cube that Savel saw, the more he became convinced that this might actually be completely abandoned.
Then Doctor Beck held up a hand to get everyone's attention, bringing the convoy of officers to a stop. Whatever he'd seen on his tricorder must have been important, so Savel moved up the line to be closer to him.
Beck: . . . I could swear I saw a lifesign pop up for a second. Anyone else see that?
With his tricorder still attached to his hip, he didn't even bother to offer up an answer. He just continued to look around them, trying to spot anything that might have caused the lifesign reading, false or not, on Dr. Beck's tricorder.
So far, he hadn't seen anything moving other than his fellow officers.
He refocused his grip on the rifle, making sure his hands were in their proper positions for the best shot. The security officer also noticed that Lt. Jovenan switched out her own tricorder in favor of the rifle. A smart move, in his book.
Salkath: Negative, no unexpected readings here.
Sadar: I, uhh, I’m not sure, Captain. Like Doctor Beck, I thought I saw a flicker for a brief moment, but it’s gone now.
Savel: I have not seen anything that would have caused such a reading.
That didn't mean there wasn't something out there though.
Salkath: I am loath to suggest it, but are we certain it wasn't a psychological error? What is that phrase, 'jumping at shadows'?
Beck: response
MacKenzie: Enough. For now, we can’t rule anything out. There’s enough about this ship that is odd and we can’t afford to waste any time second guessing one another.
The Captain swiftly put an end to any of the back and forth that was going on about what was or wasn't there with them. No point in having a discussion about something that none of them were really sure of.
It was time again to continue on and Lt. Jovenan pulled out her tricorder once more to resume her readings of the area.
Jovenan: There’s an access to a large cavity down these stairs. The temperature seems to be lower than in here.
Salkath: ::equanimously:: But of course. Shall we continue down?
The only other Vulcan and gold shirt among them led the way forward and down onto the next deck. It opened up into what seemed to be a rather central area for the Cube itself. A large, open area that seemed to provide some access to other decks but it wasn't immediately clear how everything was organized thanks to the low light levels.
Before they could get too far into the new area, Salkath brought everyone to a quick halt.
Salkath: Perhaps we can jump at this shadow.
The shadow that Salkath referred to slowly stomped its way towards the group. It immediately became clear that this cube was not, in fact, devoid of drones. The unnatural movement of the mostly-machine humanoid awkwardly walked along a path that was likely to take it to the next task that had been assigned to it.
There was a brief temptation to raise up his rifle and aim it at the drone, but he stopped himself in time. The presence alone of an armed group of boarders might not be enough for the Borg to consider them a threat, but if those weapons were aimed at drones that might change.
Even though the security officer kept himself from engaging the drone, he didn't let his eyes off of it as he moved around before them. He was going to be prepared just in case that drone decided that they were worth the effort of assimilation.
MacKenzie: ::softly:: The game’s afoot… Let’s keep moving. It won’t bother us unless it considers us a threat, and I certainly don’t want to give up any of our weapon frequencies.
Sadar: ::fiddles with the tricorder, before turning to Ensign Beck:: Doctor Beck... Are you getting any lifesign from that drone?
Perhaps there was some logic in not trusting technology fully after all. Even though the drone was right before their very eyes, the equipment they'd brought with them to try and locate those drones weren't seeing a thing.
If they couldn't rely on the tricorders to point out any drones that they might run across, it just got a whole lot more dangerous for them to navigate this Cube.
To see if his own tricorder could also not be trusted, he pulled it out for the first time and quickly powered it on. It didn't show any lifesign reading whatsoever outside of the team.
That quickly answered that question. He shut off the tricorder and put it back on his belt, his hand then going back to secure the rifle in his grip once more.
Beck/Jovenan/Salkath: response
Savel: I too am not receiving any readings on my tricorder.
Sadar: ::swallows:: That’s... Troubling. Uhh… ::fidgets with the tricorder:: Do you th- I-I mean - let’s see if we can’t find a sensor setting that gets it to register.
Once more they were on the move, further into the Cube and chasing the signal that had been picked up earlier. As Lt. Sadar kept working on getting her tricorder to recognize the lifesign of the drone, they finally arrived at the distribution node.
The captain stepped up to the node and used her tricorder as an external interface for it. While she worked on that, Savel kept his eyes basically locked on the drone that was walking around. Wandering was probably a more appropriate description for what it seemed to be doing though. It was odd to see a drone not walking with a purpose to one particular area. Instead, it looked like it was programmed to just monitor a particular area.
Savel wasn't extremely well versed in Borg tactics, but he didn't think it was usual for them to assign a drone to such a seemingly random patrol. Things just kept getting weirder around here.
MacKenzie: The drones appear to be powered down, almost like a state of hibernation. They seem to be in a holding pattern, almost like they’re using the volatility of the Badlands to provide cover…
Beck/Jovenan/Salkath: response
Savel: That may explain how they went undetected until now, but still leaves many other questions unanswered.
The Borg weren't exactly the stealthy type. If they wanted to assimilate, they showed up and literally broadcast their plans of doing so before they went to snatching up everyone and everything in sight.
It didn't make sense that they'd hunker down and wait like this. Not on a ship that didn't look like it was in need of repairs.
Sadar: But a state of ‘hibernation’ indicates that some sort of trigger will wake them up. And with a half-synthetic lifeform like the Borg, it would stand to reason that the ‘trigger’ is going to come from the system, or the Collective. Captain?
MacKenzie: I can’t tell. It’s like they’re waiting for something.
Sadar: ::whispers:: Please don’t say we’re going to be playing ‘poke the bear’ here.
Savel: I don't believe that 'poking a bear' is ever a sound decision.
Coming from a security standpoint, at least, that was the case. Especially on a Borg Cube.
Beck/Jovenan/Salkath: response
As more data populated on her tricorder's display, the captain's brow scrunched up.
MacKenzie: I’m getting an interesting power reading from several decks below us… My tricorder can’t identify it with any more specificity, and I can’t seem to access the information from this console… We should investigate.
Sadar: ::deep sigh:: Aye Sir. ::whispers as she keeps fidgeting with the tricorder:: Let’s at least get a long stick before going into the den.
Savel was beginning to not like this bear idiom that they were using. While he had never encountered a bear himself, he imagined they did not ever appreciate being poked. No matter the length of the stick. An illogical plan no matter how or why one considered doing it.
Still, he wasn't going to question the order. Even if he disagreed with the logic of the idiom it was compared to.
Savel: Yes, Captain. ::beat:: If there are no disagreements, I would like to be positioned at the front of the group. Now that we have spotted a drone.
Beck/Jovenan/Salkath: responses
They were on the move once more and Savel made sure he was at least one of the ones at the very front of their pack. The last thing he wanted was for another drone to get the drop on them. The next one might not be so nonchalant about their presence on the Cube.
A little bit behind him, Lt. Sadar was working on getting her tricorder to function properly. He could tell from all the beeps coming from the tricorder that she was trying every possible setting that she could think of to get something to register.
One of those beeps, however, stood out from the rest because no others followed. The only thing after that final beep was Lt. Sadar's acknowledgement of the results of her new settings.
And it didn't sound good.
Sadar: Oh! I got it! ::blinks:: Oooh…
While the first lifesign that popped up on the display was expected, there was also another.
And another.
And another.
And...well, you get the picture.
Mere seconds ago, they thought they were on a basically abandoned Borg Cube. Now, they were almost certain that this Cube was fully staffed to capacity. They just weren't behaving how Starfleet records were saying they should. Not sure which one of those two things was more concerning.
Why, oh why, did Gila have to go playing around with that thing?
Savel: That does not sound like good news.
MacKenzie/Beck/Jovenan/Salkath: response
The group came to a halt as they started to process all of this new information. The scale of their potential enemy had gone from "maybe a couple" to "we should get back to the !@#$-ing ship."
Speaking of the ship, they needed to know what was going on Cube-side, so Lt. Sadar tried to contact them.
Guess how that went.
Sadar: Th-There’s an, uhh… A lot of life signs. ::taps combadge:: =/\= Doctor Sadar to Artemis. =/\= ::waits a few seconds before tapping again:: =/\= Artemis? Commander? =/\=
Savel: Can I assume that "a lot" means too many to count?
MacKenzie/Beck/Jovenan/Salkath: Response
Sadar: Y-Yes Sir! B-But, what do we do if it’s not just comms that are down?
He definitely didn't want to let go of the rifle now, not to exchange a hand on the weapon for his own tricorder. The Vulcan sought out anyone that was willing to show him the display on their own device so that he could keep himself ready to engage whatever might approach them.
Savel studied the readout on the tricorder, watching all of the dots that appeared. Each one that he saw increased his desire for more security officers to be here with him. That obviously wasn't going to happen, since they couldn't even make contact with the Artemis. And who knew what else might be going wrong over there?
Savel: It could certainly complicate things for us, however, so has the discovery of the additional Borg on board.
MacKenzie/Beck/Jovenan/Salkath/Sadar: Response
There was something a bit more odd about the dots. They were all moving away from the group of officers. Even though they were all likely aware of the Starfleet presence on their ship, none of the drones seemed to care at all. None of them seemed interested in monitoring what they were doing at all.
In fact, they all seemed focused on moving to a single place.
Savel: It appears that they are moving en masse to a particular area. ::looking up to the Captain:: The same one where you detected the interesting power reading, Captain.
MacKenzie/Beck/Jovenan/Salkath/Sadar: Response
What could be so important that all of the drones on the Cube would completely ignore a Starfleet boarding party to flock towards one location?
Nothing good, that was a safe assumption.
TAG/TBC
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Lieutenant JG Savel
Security Officer
USS Artemis-A
A240004S14