MSNPC Station Spider - Shaking the Web

[Marissa Jeffrey]

((Somewhere on Deep Space 33))

The ever so slight taps of its legs against the metallic skin of the station were so close to silent that they may as well have been. Movement around had dwindled, which had led to its feet being heard at all. Normally it would be sleeping, hidden safely in some dark corner of a forgotten lower deck, but in the wake of some mass exodus it had decided that enough was enough and it had ventured out.

Now, as it skittered across the bulkhead of one of the now nearly empty main decks, the spider stopped to sense its surroundings once again before continuing on.

Without obstruction in its path, it was able to scale and traverse the corridors and wide-open spaces where beings once congregated with ease and a definite lack of fear. There were no shoes being thrown at it, nor rolled up papers, padds, or other objects smacking the surface behind it. Instead, there was a silence that seemed to permeate even the very surfaces of the station around it, seeping into the corners and the seams as if anticipating the darkness to come.

As for the spider, it simply enjoyed its new freedom, wandering and seeking a new home. Perhaps it could get out of the dark and dusky corners and into something brighter. After all, every creature needed some light at some point. That was why the stars burned as bright as they did.

The looming specter of death cast a long shadow across the station as its scythe grew ever closer. Outside, multiple ships dropped out of warp, each belonging to an alliance of two races the tiny spider might have otherwise gotten along with. For the first time since the silence began, the bulkheads shook. Nearly loosing its footing, the tiny creature skittered into a small alcove above a corridor below. Spinning a web as quickly as could be, it did what it could to hold on.

What could save it now?

A savior was out there, but it was yet far away. In the form of two warships who had discovered the ruse and turned around, the firepower they would bring may remain out of reach for the duration. They even left behind a tiny ship in hopes that an edge could be found to ensure victory. That tiny ship, and the few people who had remained behind to peek behind the cloaked curtain in the center of the system, would remain, perhaps, the last line to hope.

Time would be the one to tell how long the hollow metallic body would hold against the onslaught. Time would also be the judge who would say if one of those ships recovered from the computer hacking that a stowaway changeling had successfully accomplished, leaving the ship without warp, at least for a short time.

The question of whether the changelings had allied with the Alliance was beyond the scope of what went through the tiny creature's mind, especially as the station rattled again. Movement began to appear below as beings forcefully pushed through one of the doors to the outside. In response, those who resided within the station worked to keep them near the door. The station shook again, this time with more force than before.

As the weapons fired back and forth, the tiny spider was suddenly dislodged from its place above and helplessly fell down into the center of the battle...

TBC

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A Station Spider

As simmed by:

Commander Ash MacKenna

Chief Intelligence Officer

USS Khitomer

R238605KN0

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Commander Ash MacKenna

Chief Intelligence Officer

USS Khitomer

R238605KN0