Lt. Cmdr Ben Garcia - Call on line two

[Ben Garcia]

((OCC: A very gentle nudge on the scene, so I could include Greave's tags. Thanks again. Amanda 🙂 ))

(( Tigris, debris field, search grid 22. ))

Ben pulled the hem of his jumper, straightening out the folds. This was their moment. They'd put their chips down and committed. They had one shot to get the data. Ben's stomach tightened. His throat dried. They were alone. The Tigris another spec in the graveyard, dismembered from the Thor, and the only life line the away team had to bail out from the Proud Mary. 

He eyed the countenance of Corelli, Reid and Dar in turn - there wasn't a punch the Tigris team hadn't rolled with. 

Ben straightened his back against the chair. They played their hand. 

Corelli fired at the living structure. 

A blue beam of energy shot out of the Tigris, impacting on the surface of the invisible creature.  Gold lattice work illuminated beyond the huge shape, and for the first time, the crew understood the size of what they were dealing with.

It was at least 2000 meters in length, and computer calculations put its mass at –

Corelli: That can not be right.  This creature’s mass is 15,000 metric tons.  Although the beam was unable to penetrate to the interior.  It must be hollow.

Reid: It definitely some sort of large space creature which means it mostly likely hollow.

Garcia: o0 At least it's not shooting at us. 0o Capture all available sensor data.

Dar: Response

In the afterlife of the initial pulse, the whole system seemed to light up with smaller objects, life forms, dust, something which defied categorization. They danced in the magnetic winds.

A shockwave of polarized anti-tachyons caused by the scanning beam radiated out from the surface of the creature which had little effect on the Tigris.  The second ship was hit with the wave and immediately had other issues, Visibly venting what appeared to be drive plasma, all combat ceased.  

Corelli: Again, unexpected.  We should reposition.

Ben smiled with a shake of his head. Unexpected - that was an accurate summation. Perhaps of their entire survey so far. 

Reid: I agree we need to get out of here while they are busy doing repairs. :: More fear in her voice now ::

Garcia: We need the sensor data captured. (Encoragingly.) A few more minutes. Dar - Monitor their weapons array for any activity or attempts to lock onto us. 

Dar: Response

Reid: I’m going to need a little while to analyse the data. 

Perhaps their luck was in, and maybe time was finally on their side, as the Huxarian ship came into view in close proximity to the living vessel, meaning the Tigris wasn't the focus of either vessel's wrath. 

Suddenly, the organic-looking hull began to glow orange,  unleashing a ring of energy that raced out and swept up the frigate, only to dissipate quickly before reaching them bright green plasma vented from the rear of the ship as it spun in place and began putting distance between the thing and itself. 

Garcia: Looks like the living structure has coordinated defensive capabilities.

Dar/Reid: Response

Corelli: I think it reacted to that ship, not our beam?

Suddenly the silence was broken by a gruff, well soldiered voice crackling on the comms.  It was open, wide band transmission, and the universal translator was certainly getting a work out.

Jorah: =/\= This is Admiral Jorah of the Nuach to all vessels within range. Cease fire immediately and power down weapon systems. We will do the same. =/\= 

Kammus raised his eyebrows again, throwing a look at Garcia, who glanced back at Kammus and then beyond him to the living creature and the plasma venting ship limping away from it. 

Corelli: Universal translator seems to be working.  Respond! Let them know that our beam was not intended as a weapon.

The terse snap of Corelli's command to respond made Ben pause. In that moment he could feel 

Garcia: Dar, divert energy from weapons systems to shields, and take weapons offline -- slowly. Very slowly. Monitor their weapons system - if they gun for us, you target their weapons array. Reid, I need to know what the deal is with that living ship. Corelli, reply to the comm -- I'm readying us for evasive manoeuvres. 

Dar/Reid: Response

Corelli: Fine, I’ll do it - =/\= Admiral Jorah, this is the shuttle Tigris, that was not a weapon, however we agree to your request. =/\=

Ben nodded to Dar to cut weapons. The cabin lighting flickered as the shuttle processed the power distribution, and Ben watched as the helm readout showed the shields strengthening. 

Dar/Reid: Response

Jorah: =/\= I would like to know what has brought us all here. =/\= 

Kammus thought a moment about how exactly to answer this question.

Corelli: =/\= Time seems to be broken here.  It could be that large creature, or some other cause, we are still investigating. Please let us know your intentions. =/\=

Jorah/Kelpach/Shiximan: Response

Garcia: (To Corelli.) Explain that we have a method to repatriate them to their correct time. (To Dar and Reid) Would their tech be able to assist us? 

Dar/Corelli/Reid: Response

Jorah/Kelpach/Shiximan: Response

The comm hummed with the announcement of a second channel. Ben cast his eyes over the comms panel readout on the helm. It was Greaves and the team. 

Ben twirled his finger in the air, indicating to the others that they needed to wrap the current exchange up, which had by now become quite involved. 

Garcia: =/\= Admiral Jorah, let's adjourn for a moment while your teams verify our claims about the temporal distortion. Once you've satisfied yourself of this, we can look at the options. =/\= 

Jorah: =/\= Response? =/\= 

The comm line closed. Immediately Ben opened the channel to the Proud Mary team.

Greaves: =/\= Major Greaves to Tigris. Status update. =/\=
 
Garcia: =/\= Garcia here. Sorry for the delay there. There's been a few developments here. We're still experiencing temporal anomalies: we've got two waring ships displaced here ... now ... (Ben shrugged) ... from their own time. We've identified some sort of living structure, and it's just caused damaged to one of the displaced vessels in an act of self-defence. =/\=

Greaves/Corelli/Reid/Dar: =/\= Response =/\=

TAG / TBC!

_____________________________

Lieutenant Commander Ben Garcia

Chief Operations Officer 

USS Thor

Author ID number: G239102MR0