Commander Toryn Raga - Side Effects May Include...
Rameses
((Bridge, Deck 3, USS Ronin, Nearly Three Hours Later))
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.
Kessler: Aye sir.
Kel: Data's coming back. There's a series of tunnels and chambers inside, not sure what's in them. There seems to be a large chamber on the ventral side with an external opening. ::It seemed as if he might be making an educated guess when he made his next statement:: Waste expulsion?
With Commander Kel’s report, Alira started studying the data on her readout, her initial fascination finally giving way to professionalism. There was some kind of energy pulse coming from the creature at a regular interval, but so far nothing that appeared dangerous to them.
Velis: ::nods:: Given its location, it’s entirely possible.
Niac: Lets try to give that area a wide berth, Toryn. Lieutenant Venn...any of those chambers catch your interest? I'd like to prioritize anything resembling a power source...give the folks back at Daystrom something to puzzle over.
She’d been giving that some thought, but the best she could find was a large mass near the center of the being that seemed to function almost as a heart. Not being a medical officer, or an engineer, she couldn’t be certain if it was a heart or an engine. Or something else altogether. But it was putting out a lot of energy.
Venn: Possibly the heart, Captain. Or an engine, assuming it’s a biological construct. Or neither. I don’t have the qualifications to know for sure. But either way, it’s emitting a lot of power. Enough that it could be the source of those emissions coming from it.
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.
Kessler: I can have a Class 2 probe ready and transported to the flight deck in just a few minutes, Captain.
Velis: ::pauses:: Would a probe be able to get close enough without alarming the creature? Maybe a shuttle instead?
Niac: Considering how difficult it is for the Ronin to stay on course, I don't want to risk anything smaller until we can compensate for this...::the ship shuddered again::...buffeting.
Venn: :: shaking her head :: Agreed, Captain. I wouldn’t recommend a shuttle. A shuttle has less defensive capability than the Ronin, and if we spook the creature anyone on the shuttle would be at immediate risk. A probe could also provoke it, but wouldn’t risk a shuttle crew in the process.
Velis: I just think we could get more information firsthand.
Niac: I appreciate your zeal, Lieutenant, but for now we'll proceed with the manual probe deployment. Bring it online when it falls far enough astern to give us some kind of overview.
Kessler: Aye sir.
Raga: I’ve notified Major Singh what to expect.
Kessler: Probe ready Captain. Transporting it to the forward flight deck now.
Kel: Fingers crossed..
Velis: If the telemetry degrades too badly, we may still want to consider a shuttle later for closer observation.
Velis: Assuming it keeps tolerating us being here.
Kessler: ::in a lower voice:: Did you ever think you'd see anything this large out here?
Kel: ::chuckling:: You missed it, buddy. The Thor was swallowed by something like this. Watch for any sudden movements.
Niac: Hopefully our new friend isn't feeling snacky. But keep your distance all the same, Mr. Raga.
Raga: Aye, Captain. Holding course at half a million kilometers. Now that we know there’s a pattern to the eddies it’s a little easier to anticipate the turbulence.
Kel: Sir, I'm seeing electrical pulses running the length of the creature, they're increasing in magnitude.
Toryn’s head whipped up to look at the viewscreen. What they could see of it was stunningly beautiful but it had a similar impression to him as seeing a phaser array from a Galaxy class cycling up.
Velis: Captain, if those pulses are connected to the interference spike, we may already be provoking a response…and I’m not sure it’s a good one.
Suddenly, without warning, the power surge from the creature magnified exponentially. Almost immediately the ship was awash with some sort of energy. Toryn immediately felt queasy and hunched over the helm console as his head was pounding like someone was taking a hydraulic press to it. He clutched his head for a long moment even after whatever that was passed.
Niac: Report...did that cause any damage other than giving me a headache?
Venn: I almost blacked out, and I still have a migraine, Captain.
He groaned but straightened himself enough to make sure the ship was still on course. It had drifted about two thousand kilometers closer while he was briefly dazed by whatever that was.
Raga: Ventoj, kiuj doloras kiel infero. ::he muttered in Espranto:: There’s a minor fluctuation in the SFI fields closest to the hull but they’ve passed. My head is splitting like an avalanche in the Sez Tourals and while I was stunned the ship drifted off course slightly. We’re two thousand kilometers closer to the space whale.
Kessler: Response
Kel: Aaah! My antennae are burning!
Niac: Mr. Raga, prepare to change course, Mr. Kessler, bring the shields up. Get a medical team up here.
Toryn nodded and immediately regretted it as the urge to expel the contents of his stomach was strong. His vision was also slightly blurry and the ringing in his ears was almost enough to drown out voices. The downside of having hyper hearing and vision.
Raga: Aye, sir. I…may need a minute.
He planted one hand on the edge of the helm and the other elbow braced on its surface while he clutched his head in the opposite hand.
Kessler: Response
Kel: =/\= Kel to Beck! Are you getting anything at all? I think we may have upset it. =/\=
Beck: =/\= You can say that again. I'm not a hundred percent sure exactly what just happened, but we are having a few technical difficulties and are working on clearing those out. The data is coming through, though, absolutely. =/\=
Velis: ::to Niac:: The pulses spiked at the exact same time. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Toryn spared a glance around the bridge and was equal parts grateful and concerned to see that he wasn’t the only person who was still reeling from whatever that energy discharge was.
Velis: Captain, I don’t think it’s upset. I think it might be trying to communicate.
Niac: I suppose a simple "hello" would've been too much to hope for. Do you have anything to base that on, Lieutenant? V'Len...say the word and we'll fall back and figure out another approach.
Venn: If that … :: she fought down the nausea and tried to continue :: was a simple defense … then it might be more … powerful. Captain, we must be … prepared.
Toryn caught the intent in the Lieutenant’s words and glanced back at her. If whatever just hit them was a simple defense, he wondered if they could even handle such a creature if it decided to destroy them. Granted their shields hadn’t been up at the time, so it’s possible they might not be so drastically affected had that protective barrier been in place beforehand.
Toryn turned his seat slightly and wobbled for a moment before he steadied himself with the edge of the console.
Raga: oO I refuse to add, ‘stainer of carpets’ to my destruction epitaph. Hold it in, Toryn. Oo I agree we should be cautious, but even with the power level of whatever that was it seems like it had more of an effect on us than the ship. Short of being a banned weapon that didn’t feel like an attack.
Despite feeling terrible himself he looked over Karrod carefully to make sure their Captain was alright.
Kel: ::gritting his teeth:: Lucky me.
Kessler: Response
Velis: ::pauses:: The doctor or Commander Kel can likely confirm this, but I believe Commander Kel’s antennae might be functioning as a radio receiver.
Beck: =/\= A radio receiver, huh? That gives me an idea. =/\=
Niac: Make it quick Doctor, I don't want to expose any of the crew to this if there's a risk of long term damage. Steady as she goes Mr. Raga...but kept that escape course updated.
The turbolift doors opened at the front of the bridge and deposited a medical team that split up to check on them all.
Medic: :: to Alira :: Describe your symptoms.
Venn: Massive headache. Like having banding tightened around my skull.
Medic: That should help. Give it a few minutes. It may not completely remove the symptoms, but they’ll be manageable for now.
Kel: ::gruffly:: I'm fine.
One of the other medics crouched next to him and began running their tricorder for a moment after Kel shooed them away.
Takamura*: Hold still a moment, Commander. Looks like you have a moderate case of vertigo and hyperesthesia. This should help.
Toryn felt hypo at his neck though the hiss made him wince as it felt as loud as if he were standing beside a geyser.
Raga: I appreciate it, doc.
Feeling his wherewithal returning he sat up a bit and faced the helm again to keep them flying straight while the petty officer moved onto the next person.
Kessler: Response
Velis: ::nods:: I think if we can figure out the frequency, so to speak, we might be able to program the computers to simulate the creature’s “language” and enable us to communicate with it.
Niac: Very well, let's see if we can pin down the source of V'len's burning sensation. Mr. Kessler, is anything hitting the shields? Mr. Raga, Lieutenant Venn...can the probe tell us anything useful? I'd like to be able to politely ask this creature to stop shouting at us.
He accessed the incoming probe data and read through it for a moment.
Venn: I’m still unable to tell if it was communication or an attack. For all I know, at this point, Captain, it could be both.
Kel: ::shaking his head:: If this was an attack I think we'd all know it. As it is, Beck is right. My antennae just happen to be able to sense something.
Raga: Telemetry from the probe does confirm the power surge in the creature and that it was focused on the Ronin. The probe detected EM, UV and RF radiation among the others it detected. To my knowledge, no weapons capable of causing any harm to us or the ship use either of those.
Kessler: Response
Velis: ::shrugs:: It won’t be perfect, but I think it’s the best we’ve got.
Beck: =/\= Perfect is the enemy of good. We are seeing some progress down here - instead of a vague black outline, it's a vague white outline that is starting to show some deeper details. =/\=
Niac: =/\= Well done Doctor, get as much data as you can. Mark any spots that strike you as particularly important and our guests will prioritize them for further inspection. =/\=
Toryn was feeling a bit better as whatever the medic had provided him with seemed to be curbing the side effects of whatever this creature did to them.
No sooner had the Captain ended the comm with Quentin than he heard Marty’s voice.
Tucker: =/\= Commander Tucker to the bridge, did ya’lls lights just flicker? =/\=
Raga: =/\= You could say that. The creature just focused some sort of energy surge on us. Has more than a few of us out of sorts. =/\=
Niac: =/\= Response =/\=
Tucker: =/\= Yeah, same here and I’m assuming the rest of the ship, we’ll try to track it down but I’m pretty sure it’s an electrical systems thing, which my best guess is ‘surging’. =/\=
Cabrillo/Nakada: =/\= Response =/\=
Tucker: =/\= We also installed the new deep space package. It was going to be used by stellarcartography, but I’m guessing it might be better to get a good look at the beastie without probes that could get damaged or be seen as hostile. =/\=
Niac: =/\= Response =/\=
Raga: =/\= We already have a class 2 probe drifting behind us. We tossed it out the flight deck. Be sure to tap into its feed when you can. But good to know. The more data we can get the better. =/\=
With that comm line closed he focused on essentially surfing the eddies coming off of that thing from whatever means of propulsion it had.
Niac: Did you find a way to compensate for the turbulence or did that… ::he nodded towards the viewscreen and corrected himself::....or did our friend out there decide to give us a break?
Kel: ::breathing deeply and raising his head:: Whatever was happening has stopped.
Raga: I did, partially, the turbulence is still there. The creature is moving at a constant speed. The probe picked up energy discharges along its body. Most highly concentrated at the aft and bow. There’s a pattern to it. If I’m being honest, it’s almost like our friend is perfectly matching forward thrust enough with the thrust its movements are creating to keep its speed constant. It’s safe to assume something that size has enough of a gravity well that it can’t just rely on the laws of motion to keep it going without having a means of thrust?
He looked back towards their Chief Science Officer for confirmation.
Kessler/Velis: Response
Niac: Either way I'm going to take it as a good sign. The question now becomes...how much do we want to test our luck today? Mr. Raga, Chief Kessler...based on the data we've recovered so far...do you think we could safely get an away team or two aboard that vessel? Lt. Velis, Lt. Venn...got any good spots picked out yet?
Venn: Not yet, Captain. Are we sure it’s even safe to go there?
Kel: ::regarding his console:: Believe it or don't the passages inside the creature show atmosphere. Slightly different composition than your average M-Class planet, but nothing we'd necessarily need EV suits for.
Raga: I doubt it’s any less safe than most of the things we do on any given mission. But you two are the mission specialists. And the fact this creature has such cavities suggests it’s partially artificial. Standard away team protocols then, every armed just in case?
Kessler/Velis: Response
Venn: Captain, I don’t really relish the idea of killing something so magnificent, but it did just attack us. And it seems it didn’t even try that hard. What if we really and truly provoke it? Then what happens to us? What if…
Toryn’s brow raised in that vulcanoid way as he looked first at her then at Karrod.
Venn: Sorry, Captain. I just think we need to a be a bit more cautious about this. But, your command, sir, and if you want me to go over there, I will.
Niac: Response
Kel: Captain Niac, I don't believe that was an attack. If it wasn't actually communication it was likely the creature sensing the environment around it. We should approach with caution of course.
Raga: Lieutenant, you’re assuming that was an attack. I’m inclined to agree with Mister Kel. The probe telemetry shows the energy discharge seemed to fall off drastically after the initial impact but lingered a bit and covered the entire ship. ::he glanced at the viewscreen:: I’d be surprised if something that advanced would have weapons so ineffectual against our ship. It could have been nothing more than a scan. ::to Karrod:: Though, it wouldn’t be the first time a weapon was designed to incapacitate a crew rather than destroy a vessel. We just don’t know enough.
Which was the story of the life of a Starfleet officer it seemed. Toryn didn’t want the Lieutenant to feel like they were dismissive of their opinion. They didn’t have enough information to know for sure if that had been an attack or not. It could have been a warning shot, or it might not have. They did need to be cautious though.
Kessler/Velis: Responses
Venn: Aye, sir. Then I think we need to start with some place that seems a bit safer, furthest point away from that energy source in the center.
The main viewscreen changed to reflect scans they’d taken earlier.
Kel: There's a chamber here ::highlighting a small area:: in the anterior, dorsal space. Might be an interesting nerve cluster.
Raga: If that’s a nerve cluster should we beam directly next to it? While we have no way of knowing what the purpose of any of those chambers is from here, I suggest we try and go for something that might be the equivalent of a non-critical area. Just in case that thing has internal defenses. If the nerve clusters are similar to our console or optical network it might be considered a vital system.
Niac/Kessler/Velis/Venn: Responses
Another portion of the creature on the posterior, ventral surface was highlighted next.
Kel: This seems to be a large chamber. Unclear what's there, but it might be another jumping off point.
Raga: That might be the optimal beam in site.
Niac/Kessler/Velis/Venn: Responses
Kel: We could easily fly a shuttle through the opening on the ventral surface, but I'd propose beaming teams in instead. That would likely be less invasive.
Raga: Fair point. I know if I was simply flying through space minding my own business I would be a little upset if some random stranger decided to fly up inside me.
Niac/Kessler/Velis/Venn/Kel: Responses
Raga: Innuendos aside, I think beaming in is the better option until we have more data. I would recommend that the away teams bring pattern enhancers or wear transport armbands in case we trip any countermeasures against intruders. ::he added:: With a shuttle on standby in case we need alternate retrieval options.
Niac/Kessler/Velis/Venn/Kel: Responses
[tags/tbc]
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Commander Toryn Raga
First Officer
USS Ronin - NCC-34523
Writer ID: A239410TR0
https://wiki.starbase118.net/wiki/index.php?title=Toryn_Raga