Commander Toryn Raga - Thar She Blows
Rameses
((Bridge, Deck 3, USS Ronin, Nearly Three Hours Later))
Toryn glanced sideways at Karrod and noted how the man’s hands dug into the armrests of his chair. It was how Toryn had broken many a chair in his time in service so he couldn’t help but smirk briefly in amusement. The amusement faded with a glance at the chrono. They were almost there and to her credit Miss Nicolau had been pushing herself as hard as she’d pushed the Ronin to get them here on time. He’d seen the reports during the flight of how many corrections she’d had to make to keep the warp field stable.
Niac: Mr. Raga, once we drop out of warp I want you to relieve Lt. Nicolau at the helm before she falls over. I think she has done her bit to get us close, you can bring us the rest of the way in. Mr. Kel, start gathering what data you can from our passive sensor systems...no active scans until we're reasonably certain it won't provoke a response from the creature. Mr. Kessler...bring the ship to yellow alert but I want our shields and tactical systems powered down until I say so...I don't want incite the response we're trying to avoid. Understood?
Raga: Yes, Captain.
Kel/Kessler: Response
Niac turned in his chair to their auxiliary stations where Lieutenants Venn and Velis had taken up positions. While Toryn merely glanced over his shoulder.
Niac: Assuming we can make a successful close approach, I'm going to be looking for insights from the both of you...ideal places to scan, things to avoid, possible spots to send away teams if we get that far. If you've got anything else to tell us about this thing before we're up close and personal with it, now's the time.
Venn/Velis: Response
The huff from the CO was unmistakable to his hearing and he would have smirked but the ship dropped out of warp a moment later and the viewscreen then shifted to a sight unlike anything he’d expected to see. Toryn slowly rose from his own chair to walk up and stand beside Karrod. Bluewhite pulses of energy across an endless surface filled the viewscreen with a spectacular light.
Niac: By the Koala....reduce magnification, I want to see the whole thing.
Nicolau: Sir...we're at minimum magnification. It's...it's just that big.
Raga: By the Branch. Does anyone want to clarify precisely how big this thing is?
Kel/Kessler/Venn/Velis: Response
His teal eyes were transfixed on the shimmering iridescent skin of the creature, or spacecraft, or whatever it was seemed to glow with inner veins of light that flowed across its surface in patterns that stretched and intersected across kilometers. It reminded him of the aurora borealis from back home. How the entirety of the evening sky would be lit up with so much iridescent color as to make one think they’d accidentally taken a hallucinogenic. The ‘skin’ or hull or whatever, of this thing before them rippled with that similar kind of beautiful energy. Rhythmic energy. It felt almost like a heartbeat, or the pulsing of a warp core. He couldn’t tell which. Kilometers forward towards what he could only presume was the front of the thing, it diverged into a hammer like shape. There was a Terran aquatic predator that it reminded him off. A shark if he recalled but this thing was massive by comparison.
It took him a moment to pull himself away from the stunning sight as he looked towards the helm. Without hesitation he walked over and gently tapped Nicolau on the shoulder, dismissing her with a grateful smile. The ship shuddered as he settled into the helm’s seat and immediately took over the controls after he adjusted them to his own personal display settings.
Niac: Well done Lieutenant, you got us here in time. Mr. Raga....steady as she goes...try to bring us on a parallel course to our...friend out there. Has there been any indication the creature is reacting to our presence?
Raga: Aye, sir. There’s a lot of navigational interference. I’ll try not to ruin Miss Nicolau’s good work. Setting a parallel course. As to whether or not it’s registered us, I have no idea.
Kel/Kessler/Venn/Velis: Response
Toryn’s gaze was affixed to his console for a moment, as the readings from the sensors provided him with data on the hazards around them. It was like space had become a stormy sea. He made a minor course correction just before the ship jostled.
Niac: What's causing that? Is it the creature?
Raga: I don’t know if it’s specifically the creature or a byproduct of however in the winds it’s moving. But there are gravitational and energy eddies rippling out from that thing. I’m having to make minor adjustments on the fly. The pattern seems to be consistent from what I can see, at least they don’t seem to be random.
It made sense in a way. Something that large would undoubtedly have at the very least a small gravitational field.
Kel/Kessler/Venn/Velis: Response
He considered it for a few moments and knew it would be difficult...if not impossible...to do much more without bringing their full suite of sensors to bear. The risk was considerable but short of sending an Ensign onto the hull with an EVA suit and a holocam, there wasn't much else they could do.
Niac: Very well...Mr. Kel...begin active scanning...start with the low power bands...if our friend out there takes offense abort and we'll fall back. Ready on the helm Mr. Raga. Mr. Kessler...if you assess a threat I want those shields up as fast as possible. Lieutenants...you came all this way to see this...hope you're getting a good view because this is...unprecedented.
Raga: Aye, sir. Course steady as we can be along a parallel heading. I recommend we have the external feed put up throughout the ship so everyone can get a look. The more eyes we have on this the better.
Kel/Kessler/Venn/Velis/Niac: Response
Toryn looked up at the viewscreen filled with the kaleidoscopic colors of the entity’s shape, so massive in scale that they would have to back off even more if they wanted to get a full picture.
Raga: We’re holding steady at five hundred thousand kilometers from the entity. As for getting a full view of this thing, we could use a class 2 probe. ::he turned in the seat to look at Karrod:: We could have the flight deck crew push it out the aft flight deck and activate it remotely once it’s clear from us and the entity.
He was concerned that if they launched anything normally, the entity might see it as a threatening action. But if something merely fell out of their ship, if it was a creature it might just think they were using the loo.
Kel/Kessler/Venn/Velis/Niac: Response
[tags/tbc]
=====================================
Commander Toryn Raga
First Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
Writer ID: A239410TR0
https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toryn_Raga