Lieutenant Serin Velis: Baby Leviathan
Serin Velis
((Organic Tunnel, Posterior Dorsal, Unknown Cosmozoan Entity))
Serin tried to focus on helping instead of worrying. After learning Commander Kel was still injured, she reconfigured her tricorder and joined the search for the missing team. She also took a moment to reassure Narhelion, hoping the wounded creature understood they were trying to help. The deeper they traveled, the more obvious its injuries became. Despite that, Narhelion continued opening paths and guiding them forward.
Then Narhelion cried out. Moments later, the corridors shifted around them and signs of fresh damage appeared everywhere. Guided by Wren, the group hurried through a series of newly opened passages. As they ran, Serin noticed evidence that Narhelion's body was mounting a much larger response than a simple localized injury. By the time they reached what appeared to be the cargo bay entrance, she was convinced the situation was getting worse. Fortunately, her tricorder suggested the rest of the team was finally just beyond the door.
Bringing her phaser to the ready, she crossed toward the opening, hoping she didn’t slip like Wren had earlier.
Wren / De La Croix: Response
((OOC: Happy to continue as necessary.))
Just as they made it across, the tremors stopped and all was silent. She only hoped it stayed that way. She turned to address De La Croix and Wren.
Velis: Looks like we’re good for now. ::pauses:: I hope this means Narhelion has run off the enemy ships.
Wren / De La Croix: Response
Marsek: =/\= Lieutenant Dohna had us pressing forward with Commander Kel. If you're in front of the cargo bay, turn and head west. Follow the ceiling cables. ::pause:: Oh, right. This is Marsek. =/\=
Velis: ::shrugs:: I guess we’re going somewhere different?
De La Croix: Response
Wren: Response
Serin resisted the urge to sigh. After racing through Narhelion's corridors, dodging injuries and collapsing passages, she'd been looking forward to finally reuniting with the others.
Velis: All right. West it is.
She looked up, searching for the ceiling conduits Marsek had mentioned.
Velis: At least this is the most specific set of directions we've received all day.
De La Croix / Wren: Responses
Following ceiling cables through a living starship wasn't exactly standard Starfleet procedure, but at this point she was willing to take whatever help she could get.
((Maintenance Bay, Posterior Dorsal, Narhelion))
{{Mini Time Jump}}
The conduits eventually led them through a narrow opening and into a much larger chamber. Serin slowed as her tricorder immediately lit up with the lifesigns she had been tracking.
Velis: There they are.
Relief washed through her. Commander Kel's lifesign was still present, along with the rest of the team.
The reunion was brief. Before she could ask more than a few questions, her attention was drawn to the far side of the chamber. A massive tubular structure dominated the space, fed by dozens of smaller conduits that pulsed with light and energy.
Serin stared.
Whatever she'd expected to find inside a living starship, it wasn't this.
Serin studied the structure in fascination. Near its center, a glowing orb pulsed with a steady rhythm, feeding light through a network of conduits that spread throughout the surrounding framework. Each pulse reminded her of a circulatory system carrying nutrients through a developing organism, though the metallic components suggested something far more complex. Her gaze followed the growing vessel to its far end, where two elongated protrusions extended outward. The resemblance to nacelles was difficult to ignore.
Dohna: Is it building another ship?
Marsek: ...Using...wow, it's using everything it's learned…
Serin drew closer, studying the vessel more closely, fascination clear in her features. Narhelion had certainly redefined sentient life. Not only was Narhelion living, she was clearly extremely intelligent.
Velis: ::murmurs:: It’s so beautiful.
Wren: Response
Akani/De La Croix: Response
Dohna: ::pointing to the red and blue tubes:: Are those nacelles?
Marsek: ::checks the tubes and does a quick reference on her PADD:: ...Nacelles from what appears to be--wait, is this early Bolian? ::ponders:: Might actually be Trill, I'll have to cross-reference. Sorry, I know it's not important right now, but those are definitely nacelles.
Velis: ::shakes her head:: That doesn’t appear to be a Trill design at all.
If she didn’t know any better, she’d say they looked a lot like the Ronin.
Akani/De La Croix: Responses
Dohna: I'm guessing it's early in the process, but the core is online and the keel has been laid. If those are engines they need to grow quite a bit.
The very thought was absurd. One built nacelles, not grew them. But then, Narhelion was unlike any lifeform she’d encountered in her many years.
Akani/De La Croix: Response
Dohna: I mean, I'm no doctor, but it seems like its healthy.
Marsek: ::does her best to disguise her hobble over to a monitor and checks:: It's reading stable.
Akani/De La Croix: Response
Marsek: Look, it's building inside-out - I think those are the warp coils! I guess it built warp first, impulse second.
Engineering was far from Serin’s specialty. The technical details weren’t really registering with her as much as the unique reproduction process she was witnessing.
Velis: ::grins:: This is marvelous! My colleagues will be green with envy that I got to witness something like this first hand.
Akani/Dohna/De La Croix/Wren: Response
Marsek: How long do you think this will take? I'm guessing it'll grow more once it's...erm...-birthed-, so to speak. Does Narhelion provide the basics and then protect it until it's old enough, I wonder...
Akani/Dohna/De La Croix/Wren: Response
Serin caught Marsek wearing the same expression she'd seen on more than one member of the team, herself included. It was the look of someone trying to process three impossible things at once and not quite succeeding. A living starship was one thing. A baby living starship was something else entirely.
Marsek: =/\= Marsek to Commander Raga. Sir, we've discovered Narhelion's maintenance bay and the source of the power drain. She's--she's diverting power to create a new cosmozoan. =/\=
Raga/Akani/Dohna/De La Croix/Wren: Responses
Serin stared at the developing vessel, watching energy pulse from the glowing orb into its growing frame.
Velis: It's a nursery.
Raga/Akani/Dohna/De La Croix/Wren: Responses
For a moment, she forgot about the Tholians, the battle, and the fear that had followed them through Narhelion's corridors. All she could think about was the wounded creature continuing to fight while pouring what had to be an incredible amount of energy into creating new life.
Velis: That's...actually kind of incredible. ::grins:: Terrifying. Complicated. Possibly a nightmare from an engineering perspective. ::glances at Dohna:: But incredible.
Dohna: Response
Raga/Akani/Marsek/De La Croix/Wren: Responses
Velis: ::sighs:: =/\= All right, Commander. Now what? =/\=
Raga: Response
Dohna/Akani/Marsek/De La Croix/Wren: Responses
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