Ensign Roop - The Subconscious Psyche Where Fear Hatches
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Donald Furrow-Scott
Sep 19, 2025, 5:25:06 PM (4 days ago) Sep 19
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((Main Lower Hull Junction, Deck 7, USS Compass Rose))
Roop: What’tha? ::exiting cautiously, slinking, visibly alert for anything as if in danger:: Sir?
Kel: ::somberly:: Two Humans, a Bolian and a Vulcan. ::pausing:: Or what's left of them.
He tagged the comm badges of the four former crew into their recovery database.
Given the slashes, tears, and burn marks on what remained of the Starfleet uniforms in the junction, quite a fight had taken place here. Two bloody lines led away like a dragged paintbrush to one of the pair of turbolifts. Roop didn’t need his scans to see it was bright red, not the black of that vile goo of dying crewmen.
Pacing opposite the Second walking in a circle, there didn’t appear to be any crazed crew in the junction ready to jump out and continue the fight.
Niac: =/\= Chief...I'm putting this on open comms so everyone on the Rose can hear it. Our probes have positively identified the wreckage of a Tarellian plague ship in this system. Considering the severity of the situation aboard the Rose we must conclude that they have been exposed. In addition...Lieutenant, your suit sensors are showing a puncture. It's very likely you've been exposed. We're attempting to ascertain if anyone else on the away team has also been compromised. =/\=
Shortrith: =/\= At this stage, there's no set confirmation about anyone else being exposed. But there's no knowing yet whether they haven't. =/\=
Raga: =/\= Response =/\=
Kessler: =/\= Tarellian? I see. Any news on how this was engineered? Or is this a mutation all of its own? =/\=
Kessler: ::Keeping comms open:: =/\= Sorry, my mother was a Medical Doctor and an Exo-Species Biologist. As you might expect deadly viruses were not an uncommon topic with her. ::pulling his tricorder out and flipping it open:: Given that no scans have revealed what we know about the Tarellian Virus then it stands that this is engineered to be different or it mutated, correct? =/\=
Niac: =/\= That's a reasonable assumption Chief, I'll pass it along to the team in sickbay. This should help them narrow down what they're dealing with. In the meantime, are you or your team experiencing any symptoms? Anything you could tell us about your condition at this early point could be invaluable. =/\=
Shortrith: =/\= This knowledge could be key in finding things that… alleviate the symptoms, and possibly save lives. =/\=
Raga: =/\= Response =/\=
Kessler: =/\= What about medical records from Doctor Wyatt Earp? ::pause:: Wait, Wyatt Hiller....Wyatt Miller. Yeah Miller, didn't he stay in touch with Starfleet for a while about the plague ship he was aboard? =/\=
Raga/Nicolau/Shortrith: =/\= Response =/\
Kessler: =/\= I'm thinking I'm not dead yet, but will be. If this was mutated then you have a far bigger issue on your hands. If this was engineered then there's a cure. the engineers wouldn't be stupid enough to follow in the Tarellian's footsteps and resequence a virus that was known to wipe out civilizations without ensuring their own was protected. Unless of course they were naturally immune. Which means we could develop a cure from them, right? =/\=
Niac: =/\= Logical conclusions, Mr. Kessler, I'll pass them along to the research team. Until then, get yourself and your people out of that armory while we dispose of your little torpedo problem, understood? =/\=
Raga: =/\= Response =/\=
Having finished his scans of the crewmen’s remains, the Second looked up and then at Roop.
Kel: ::nodding at Roop:: Let's go.
Roop: Aye, Sir.
Kel: Jack and I have served together since I joined. We can't let him end up like that. ::pointing back toward the goo::
Roop’s eyes make a final circle of the battle before locking onto the Second’s green eyes and blue face. He felt any hopeful comment would pale into insignificance.
They headed out the door and down the corridor. After a bit V'Len halted.
Kel: One of our blank spots is behind that door. Let's see what's in there.
Roop: We’ve got a forty-thousand cubic meter deuterium storage tank in that bay.
T'Fearne: =/\= T’Fearne to Commander Kel, apologies if I alarmed you, Commander. I’ve had to sedate Chief Kessler momentarily. He seems to be progressing to the stage of the Black Tear plague where paranoia and hallucinations may become more frequent. =/\=
The Second’s stare off into space seemed thoughtful, not stunned.
Kel: =/\= We'll join you as soon as possible. =/\=
Roop: They’re two decks below us, to aft.
Looking at the door before them and wondering about what mystery hid behind it, Roop backed a step away, switched gears to synch with the Second, and motioned towards the dual turbolifts that waited a few meters down the corridor.
The lift that arrived, unfortunately, continued the blood trail. As the doors swished open, Roop was grateful there was no body or goo inside. The blood was still wet, though. They were walking in the Rose’s dead with every step, it seemed. That weighed heavily upon Roop's soul a moment before he shook it off.
The Turbolift closed and began to drop.
Roop: Transporter Room, Deflector, Sensor Pallets…::as Deck 8 passed, he glanced up for a second at the Second:: Another of the scanning blank spots was on that deck, too.
Kel: Response
((Deck 09, USS Compass Rose))
The turbolift doors opened, facing the other turbolift door of the pair across a corridor.
The blood trail did not exit the turbolift here.
Roop: They are fifty meters to the aft, Commander. Across a catwalk and in the Torpedo Bay. I’m reading three Ronin up and about, and three Rose alive but motionless.
Kel: Response
Falling in behind the Second as he was ordered, Roop lingered a moment as they passed flanking sensor labs.
The doors to the lab on the right had been welded shut. From this side.
Roop tapped his triPADD scans to bring up, once again, positively charged ions of calcium, potassium, and sodium, and weak electrical signals. Reading three comm badges and their associated piles of human goo, someone had sealed that crew to their doom.
Putting a transporter tag on the door and tagging the room for Recovery, Roop had to trot to catch back up to the Second. Roop could sense that the Commander’s concern for Kessler was real and motivational.
((Probe & Buoy Magazine and Launch Bay, Deck 09, USS Compass Rose))
The catwalk was four meters from the floor and spanned thirty meters of the magazine, but it would have been easy enough to hop over to any of a half dozen containers holding the equipment below. What was more concerning was the phaser burns on the catwalk railing and beams. Their steps reverberated loudly, even over helmet comms.
Kel: Response
Roop: ::slowing his walk and scanning the bay below:: Aye, Sir. It does.
The probe & buoy launch displays and floor were also burned by phaser lines. There were two still bodies, still holding their phasers, apparently dead by the displays. They showed no obvious signs of the Pathogen.
Kel: Response
Roop: A day? ::walking past overhead::
oO A firefight against those launching the quarantine buoy? Oo
They came to the hatch into the Torpedo Bay and opened it.
Kel: response
T'Fearne: Commander, Ensign. ::nodding in greeting:: Sir, I can report the torpedoes have almost all been neutralised. Captain Winters and Chief Kessler are just extracting the antimatter from the last ones now. We had to dissable all the torpedoes in the process, the Rose is defenseless except for phasers, if they are even operational? We do have this crate of antimatter warheads currently in stasis containment. It could be beamed off-ship or held until repairs are possible. We were just discussing what could be done with it. An engineering opinion on the stability of containment would be appreciated, Ensign Roop.
Roop: Aye, Sir. ::beginning scanning the crate with his triPADD:: The Rose’s phaser banks are non-operational, Sir. ::glancing side-eyed at T’Fearne with the report::
Winters / Kessler / Kel : response
T'Fearne: I did think it was necessary to disarm the Chief, sir. The ACMO advised it might come to that. The hypo seemed… the lesser of evils. ::turning, meeting Kessler’s eyes:: You seemed reluctant to entrust me with your weapons, Chief. You were aiming your phaser rifle at non-existent targets in a bay full of volatiles. It just didn’t seem like an out-of-character risk, sir.
Winters / Kessler: response
Moving around the crate, focusing on and verifying every single containment field would take a few moments. Roop fed his ongoing triPADD readings to the Ronin via the Luster and Oliphant links. He admired the Chief after their impromptu coffee meeting, and even more so after the warp core breaching, but still kept his phaser hip away from and out of reach of the helmet-less Lieutenant.
Kel: response
[Tags / TBC]
===============================
Ensign Roop
HCO Officer assigned to Engineering & Lieutenant Tucker
USS Ronin NCC-34523
Captain Karrod Niac commanding
R240206OR1
Roop: What’tha? ::exiting cautiously, slinking, visibly alert for anything as if in danger:: Sir?
Kel: ::somberly:: Two Humans, a Bolian and a Vulcan. ::pausing:: Or what's left of them.
He tagged the comm badges of the four former crew into their recovery database.
Given the slashes, tears, and burn marks on what remained of the Starfleet uniforms in the junction, quite a fight had taken place here. Two bloody lines led away like a dragged paintbrush to one of the pair of turbolifts. Roop didn’t need his scans to see it was bright red, not the black of that vile goo of dying crewmen.
Pacing opposite the Second walking in a circle, there didn’t appear to be any crazed crew in the junction ready to jump out and continue the fight.
Niac: =/\= Chief...I'm putting this on open comms so everyone on the Rose can hear it. Our probes have positively identified the wreckage of a Tarellian plague ship in this system. Considering the severity of the situation aboard the Rose we must conclude that they have been exposed. In addition...Lieutenant, your suit sensors are showing a puncture. It's very likely you've been exposed. We're attempting to ascertain if anyone else on the away team has also been compromised. =/\=
Shortrith: =/\= At this stage, there's no set confirmation about anyone else being exposed. But there's no knowing yet whether they haven't. =/\=
Raga: =/\= Response =/\=
Kessler: =/\= Tarellian? I see. Any news on how this was engineered? Or is this a mutation all of its own? =/\=
Kessler: ::Keeping comms open:: =/\= Sorry, my mother was a Medical Doctor and an Exo-Species Biologist. As you might expect deadly viruses were not an uncommon topic with her. ::pulling his tricorder out and flipping it open:: Given that no scans have revealed what we know about the Tarellian Virus then it stands that this is engineered to be different or it mutated, correct? =/\=
Niac: =/\= That's a reasonable assumption Chief, I'll pass it along to the team in sickbay. This should help them narrow down what they're dealing with. In the meantime, are you or your team experiencing any symptoms? Anything you could tell us about your condition at this early point could be invaluable. =/\=
Shortrith: =/\= This knowledge could be key in finding things that… alleviate the symptoms, and possibly save lives. =/\=
Raga: =/\= Response =/\=
Kessler: =/\= What about medical records from Doctor Wyatt Earp? ::pause:: Wait, Wyatt Hiller....Wyatt Miller. Yeah Miller, didn't he stay in touch with Starfleet for a while about the plague ship he was aboard? =/\=
Raga/Nicolau/Shortrith: =/\= Response =/\
Kessler: =/\= I'm thinking I'm not dead yet, but will be. If this was mutated then you have a far bigger issue on your hands. If this was engineered then there's a cure. the engineers wouldn't be stupid enough to follow in the Tarellian's footsteps and resequence a virus that was known to wipe out civilizations without ensuring their own was protected. Unless of course they were naturally immune. Which means we could develop a cure from them, right? =/\=
Niac: =/\= Logical conclusions, Mr. Kessler, I'll pass them along to the research team. Until then, get yourself and your people out of that armory while we dispose of your little torpedo problem, understood? =/\=
Raga: =/\= Response =/\=
Having finished his scans of the crewmen’s remains, the Second looked up and then at Roop.
Kel: ::nodding at Roop:: Let's go.
Roop: Aye, Sir.
Kel: Jack and I have served together since I joined. We can't let him end up like that. ::pointing back toward the goo::
Roop’s eyes make a final circle of the battle before locking onto the Second’s green eyes and blue face. He felt any hopeful comment would pale into insignificance.
They headed out the door and down the corridor. After a bit V'Len halted.
Kel: One of our blank spots is behind that door. Let's see what's in there.
Roop: We’ve got a forty-thousand cubic meter deuterium storage tank in that bay.
T'Fearne: =/\= T’Fearne to Commander Kel, apologies if I alarmed you, Commander. I’ve had to sedate Chief Kessler momentarily. He seems to be progressing to the stage of the Black Tear plague where paranoia and hallucinations may become more frequent. =/\=
The Second’s stare off into space seemed thoughtful, not stunned.
Kel: =/\= We'll join you as soon as possible. =/\=
Roop: They’re two decks below us, to aft.
Looking at the door before them and wondering about what mystery hid behind it, Roop backed a step away, switched gears to synch with the Second, and motioned towards the dual turbolifts that waited a few meters down the corridor.
The lift that arrived, unfortunately, continued the blood trail. As the doors swished open, Roop was grateful there was no body or goo inside. The blood was still wet, though. They were walking in the Rose’s dead with every step, it seemed. That weighed heavily upon Roop's soul a moment before he shook it off.
The Turbolift closed and began to drop.
Roop: Transporter Room, Deflector, Sensor Pallets…::as Deck 8 passed, he glanced up for a second at the Second:: Another of the scanning blank spots was on that deck, too.
Kel: Response
((Deck 09, USS Compass Rose))
The turbolift doors opened, facing the other turbolift door of the pair across a corridor.
The blood trail did not exit the turbolift here.
Roop: They are fifty meters to the aft, Commander. Across a catwalk and in the Torpedo Bay. I’m reading three Ronin up and about, and three Rose alive but motionless.
Kel: Response
Falling in behind the Second as he was ordered, Roop lingered a moment as they passed flanking sensor labs.
The doors to the lab on the right had been welded shut. From this side.
Roop tapped his triPADD scans to bring up, once again, positively charged ions of calcium, potassium, and sodium, and weak electrical signals. Reading three comm badges and their associated piles of human goo, someone had sealed that crew to their doom.
Putting a transporter tag on the door and tagging the room for Recovery, Roop had to trot to catch back up to the Second. Roop could sense that the Commander’s concern for Kessler was real and motivational.
((Probe & Buoy Magazine and Launch Bay, Deck 09, USS Compass Rose))
The catwalk was four meters from the floor and spanned thirty meters of the magazine, but it would have been easy enough to hop over to any of a half dozen containers holding the equipment below. What was more concerning was the phaser burns on the catwalk railing and beams. Their steps reverberated loudly, even over helmet comms.
Kel: Response
Roop: ::slowing his walk and scanning the bay below:: Aye, Sir. It does.
The probe & buoy launch displays and floor were also burned by phaser lines. There were two still bodies, still holding their phasers, apparently dead by the displays. They showed no obvious signs of the Pathogen.
Kel: Response
Roop: A day? ::walking past overhead::
oO A firefight against those launching the quarantine buoy? Oo
They came to the hatch into the Torpedo Bay and opened it.
Kel: response
T'Fearne: Commander, Ensign. ::nodding in greeting:: Sir, I can report the torpedoes have almost all been neutralised. Captain Winters and Chief Kessler are just extracting the antimatter from the last ones now. We had to dissable all the torpedoes in the process, the Rose is defenseless except for phasers, if they are even operational? We do have this crate of antimatter warheads currently in stasis containment. It could be beamed off-ship or held until repairs are possible. We were just discussing what could be done with it. An engineering opinion on the stability of containment would be appreciated, Ensign Roop.
Roop: Aye, Sir. ::beginning scanning the crate with his triPADD:: The Rose’s phaser banks are non-operational, Sir. ::glancing side-eyed at T’Fearne with the report::
Winters / Kessler / Kel : response
T'Fearne: I did think it was necessary to disarm the Chief, sir. The ACMO advised it might come to that. The hypo seemed… the lesser of evils. ::turning, meeting Kessler’s eyes:: You seemed reluctant to entrust me with your weapons, Chief. You were aiming your phaser rifle at non-existent targets in a bay full of volatiles. It just didn’t seem like an out-of-character risk, sir.
Winters / Kessler: response
Moving around the crate, focusing on and verifying every single containment field would take a few moments. Roop fed his ongoing triPADD readings to the Ronin via the Luster and Oliphant links. He admired the Chief after their impromptu coffee meeting, and even more so after the warp core breaching, but still kept his phaser hip away from and out of reach of the helmet-less Lieutenant.
Kel: response
[Tags / TBC]
===============================
Ensign Roop
HCO Officer assigned to Engineering & Lieutenant Tucker
USS Ronin NCC-34523
Captain Karrod Niac commanding
R240206OR1
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