Lt. T’Fearne - Duo Tone (Part II)
Teayl Thorn
((OOC: I have attempted to stitch together the Narhelion audio that we can all hear and the comm call from Velis. Apologies if I missed something.))
((Organic Tunnel, Posterior Dorsal, Unknown Cosmozoan Entity))
T'Fearne: Stop! ~Stop!~
Her vocal and mental voice overlapped in an odd dual tone for any telepaths in close proximity to pick up. To her surprise the tension around her seemed to slack. She drew in a slow breath and found herself not held as tightly, almost like it was responding. Acquiescing to her order?
oO That worked? Or just wishful thinking? Oo
De La Croix: Response
Kel: I cannot allow you to hold my companions. Release them or I will have to use force.
She drew a glove across her faceplate and this time it peeled away clear, the molecules not reforming over her but pooling around her form. She leaned further up, one suited arm and legs still stuck, but she could see she was next to De La Croix.
For the first time she could properly see what had been happening around them.
The black liquid had formed rough duplicates of the away team. Their surfaces shimmered with interference-like distortions, features never quite settling into focus. They had stopped, which was in a way a response.
De La Croix: Response
Kel was in the process of drawing his phaser. He turned and pointed it at her and the Doctor. Her heartrate sped up again. She yanked her trapped hand trying to free herself, not sure what was going on or what Kel was doing. Had he been influenced by the entity in some way?
A burst of something like the pulse that had burned her mind before filled the chamber, not as intense but still painful, distracting. Kel halted and the chamber dimmed suddenly.
A deep vibration rolled through the surrounding tissue and a massive shard of orange crystal burst through the wall behind Kel, skidding across the floor in a shower of organic debris.
Kel: ::turning to the doppelganger once more:: What happened? What was all that?
The security officer didn’t know when she had assigned a gender to the entity, just that in the last few moments she had gotten a sense of what the entity seemed to perceive of itself.
T'Fearne: ::haltingly:: I think she is trying to respond.
The entire chamber seemed to reverberate outside of her suit as the air rippled with the sound of something. That same sound seemed to also emanate from each of the black slime copies as well.
Cosmozoan: Aggressor. Crystal Aggressor sting Narhelion. Narhelion, eradicate angry crystal.
Kel: Response
With a determined motion, T’Fearne emergency overrode the seal on her EVA suit, pulling the helmet off and peeling herself up and away from parts of it, leaving it stuck, but freeing herself of the cloying black slime, leaving her standing in the dark under suit with soft booted feet, face and hands exposed to the strangely moist warm air. It had a slightly fishy, metallic smell. It made her almost retch, but there was too much going on.
Seeing their weapons pointed at her companions, she rose, taking a half step forward to draw their attention, palms out and empty, with most of her weapons stuck in the goo, she used movement to distract and to cover the downed civilian.
T’Fearne: ::misunderstanding:: We are not aggressors. You allowed us here. We came to render aid if you required it. ::Lowering hand gesture:: These ones are doctors. Healers of the body. Please, lower your weapons.
De La Croix: Responses
Narhelion: Vocal communication. Inadequate. Narhelion, not used to. Narhelion, release. Narhelion only sought mind link. Intruder removable dermis prevent.
The same emotions she had sensed before. Urgency. Concern. Seeking connection. Her spine straightened with a little jerk. The memory of the pain of first contact made her wince, she wished she’d kept the suit on.
The substance released De La Croix’s wiggling form. And their dark copies halted in their movements, their mimicked weapons rescinded back into the goo they’d formed from.
Kel: Response
T’Fearne: ::slowly:: I do not think she is referring to us. ::Stepping closer to the shard:: This is Lattice Alliance tech.
De La Croix: Responses
A chirp sounded from Kel's commbadge.
Velis: ::pauses and taps her commbadge:: =/\= Velis to Commander Kel. =/\=
Kel: =/\= Response =/\=
Velis: =/\= Are you hearing it, too? The creature, I mean. =/\=
Kel: =/\= Response =/\=
Velis: ::pauses:: =/\= I think it wants us to take off our helmets so it can connect to our minds. It sounds like Narhelion can’t convey what it needs to convey with words. =/\=
Kel: =/\= Response =/\=
T’Fearne's brows rose slightly.
T’Fearne: ::joining the channel:: =/\= I would strongly advise caution. I experienced a brief empathtic sense from this entity, it was...overwhelming. Narhelion appears well-intentioned, but the scale of what passes for her emotions and thoughts is unlike anything I have encountered. =/\=
De La Croix:=/\= Responses =/\=
Narhelion: Direct mind link with invasive entities not advised. Narhelion mind powerful. ::the word droned for a moment:: Mind Link not possible with non-psionics without bioorganic alterations.
A faint chill ran down T’Fearne's spine. The creature, Narhelion, felt almost apologetic.
Kel: =/\= Response =/\=
T’Fearne: Again, I strongly recommend we take time to understand the nature of these "bioorganic alterations" before anyone volunteers. I prefer not to have a Borg situation on our hands.
De La Croix: =/\= Responses =/\=
Narhelion: Temporary mind link interface possible. Permanence avoidable within first forty *unintelligble*. Accessing alien device. Revision. Permanence avoidable within first forty eight hours. ::the reverberations through the interior lingered:: Privacy uncompromised. Mind link surface only, without further consent.
The security officer blinked.
T’Fearne: That was a surprisingly informative consent statement from a creature the size of a, ah moon? Which also suggests she has interacted with telepaths before. Possibly has guests or a crew of telepaths?
She turned to look at Kel and De La Croix, then at the dark duplicates.
T’Fearne: Which makes me wonder where the telepathic crew is? ::gesturing at the copies:: and these are an interface? The immune system? Both?
Kel/De La Croix: Responses
T’Fearne: Where did she get a chunk of Tholian tech from.
T’Fearne stepped cautiously toward the crystal shard. Up close, its fractured surfaces shimmered with internal energy. The thing looked less like debris and more like part of a device.
A high-pitched whine suddenly emanated from somewhere deep within the crystal.
Kel/De La Croix: Responses
The sound rose to a climbing frequency.
Narhelion did something, its walls vomited resin like substance to coat the device and began swallowing it into the floor.
T’Fearne: ::eyes wide:: Kel, Doctor, get back! Their exosuits are pressurised and generally explosive once punctured. We don’t know what this device is…
The crystal detonated.
Orange and crimson light flooded the tunnel with a shock wave.
Long crystalline spears erupted outward in every direction, shredding through mist, slime and organic tissue. Fragments ricocheted from the walls. Others buried themselves deep into Narhelion's living flesh.
T’Fearne lunged toward Kel, intending to shove him behind cover.
Instead, the blast caught her up. She lost track of him and De La Croix
A spear of orange crystal punched through her shoulder beneath the clavicle, driving through the fabric of her undersuit and pinning her to the living wall behind her.
Pain exploded through her arm.
For a heartbeat she simply stared at the crystal protruding from the side of her chest.
In her mind she heard the giant creature around them let out an agonised scream.
oO This is not good. Oo
Kel/De La Croix: Responses
[Tags / TBC]
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Security Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
R240107T14