S1E5 Brain Games

[Lizzie Vaughan]

"Right, let's get moving. Let it be known that First Contact was made by phaser fire." Rhymus smirked, following the group of slowly advancing crewman to the next piece of cover. He peered over, firing his two phaser pistols into the chest of one target before ducking down as return fire stitched across his cover. The Security crewman turned back to the Doctor as he settles in. "Has Alys been infected?"

Deck 10

Lizzie followed the security team, using the standard cover and advance strategy. She took down two more of the invaders before replying.

"No. None of the children have been infected. We're not sure if it is pure luck or that the children have some sort of natural immunity to whatever is infecting us. We're doing standard tests to try and find out, but this ship does not have the facilities to isolate antibodies and create an antidote. All we can do is hop that we can use something we already have. If not, we'll just have to try and get to the nearest Starbase." She replied, giving him a quick look before returning her eyes to the corridor.

[Rhymus Cleroux]

Deck 10

Lizzie followed the security team, using the standard cover and advance strategy. She took down two more of the invaders before replying.

"No. None of the children have been infected. We're not sure if it is pure luck or that the children have some sort of natural immunity to whatever is infecting us. We're doing standard tests to try and find out, but this ship does not have the facilities to isolate antibodies and create an antidote. All we can do is hop that we can use something we already have. If not, we'll just have to try and get to the nearest Starbase." She replied, giving him a quick look before returning her eyes to the corridor.

Rhymus fired twice more down the corridor, bringing another hulking creature to the deck. Another wave of enemy fire swept their cover in response, bringing a crewman down with it.

"My gut says we aren't facing a natural virus. What's the possibility that this was made specifically to target the crews of ships? Say, 18 standard years and upwards?"

He blindly fired another phaser down the corridor.

"At our current rate of infection and activation, it won't be long before the whole crew has been subjugated. I'd say these guys saw we were soon to escape, and jumped the gun boarding us."

[Lizzie Vaughan]

Rhymus fired twice more down the corridor, bringing another hulking creature to the deck. Another wave of enemy fire swept their cover in response, bringing a crewman down with it.

"My gut says we aren't facing a natural virus. What's the possibility that this was made specifically to target the crews of ships? Say, 18 standard years and upwards?"

He blindly fired another phaser down the corridor.

"At our current rate of infection and activation, it won't be long before the whole crew has been subjugated. I'd say these guys saw we were soon to escape, and jumped the gun boarding us."

Deck 10

Lizzie nodded in agreement.

"That thought has occurred to me too. Whatever this is, is too virulent to be naturally occurring. My current theory is that is designed to incapacitate but not kill the crew of any opposing vessel. After all we have had no deaths so far, and if this was a regular infection, I would expect it to have caused at least one or two deaths, given the rate in which it is spreading." She paused and fired the rife at another of the hulking creatures. "My current estimate is we have less than 24 hours to reach a place of safety before there are too few of us to run the ship. Since it will take us about 18 hours to reach the nearest Starbase, we have less than 6 hours to break out and get rid of these invaders." She added.

[Dylan Torngate]

[Sickbay]

Hearing no response from the Nurse, Dylan had to assume that she was busy elsewhere. So he called out again. "Is anyone even hearing me? C'mon, get me out of here!"

[Deck 10]

The invaders fell back further against the onslaught of Federation weaponry, leaving their fallen comrades behind as they went. Their path fell back toward the transporter room, but their end goal was yet to be discovered.

[Shuttle]

As the Federation boarders beamed aboard the shuttle, it was very dark. There was little light, but tricorders would show only two life signs aboard.

[Sickbay- Again]

T'Kaac awoke from his state, and looked around, speaking quickly and mostly incoherently, calling out for the Doctor, the Captain, the XO, and pretty much every senior officer on the ship.

[Rhymus Cleroux]

[Deck 10]

The invaders fell back further against the onslaught of Federation weaponry, leaving their fallen comrades behind as they went. Their path fell back toward the transporter room, but their end goal was yet to be discovered.

[Deck 10 - Corridors]

"They're falling back! The boarders are retreating!" Came a call from one of the crewman. Sure enough, anyone who peaked over their cover could see the boarders, big as they were, begin leaving their cover and falling back further into the ship.

"After them! Don't give them time to regroup!" Rhymus yelled. He then turned to the Doctor. "With luck, Doctor, the ship will be secure momentarily."

He then leaped after the other Security members, firing at the retreating invaders as he went.

[Lek]

[Engineering]

In engineering, chaos reigned. Multiple klaxons were sounding and the computer intoned.

"Plasma flow regulators disengaged, uncontrolled warp reaction in progress. Time to containment failure six minutes."

Lek could not avoid hearing all these sounds with his prominent lobes, but he was so focused on his task that he was able to ignore them.

"Increase x axis bias to port nacelle. Slow reaction five percent. Compensate for faster than normal flow. Steady as she goes....steady....steady."

Lek purred as he manually balanced the overload he was force feeding into the warp core. The vibrations shaking the Challenger increased in severity and this caused even more klaxons to sound.

"Structural failure in eight minutes. Recommend warp core shut down." The computer warned and Lek muttered in annoyance.

"Starfleet ships talk too much."

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Deck 10 - Corridors]

"They're falling back! The boarders are retreating!" Came a call from one of the crewman. Sure enough, anyone who peaked over their cover could see the boarders, big as they were, begin leaving their cover and falling back further into the ship.

"After them! Don't give them time to regroup!" Rhymus yelled. He then turned to the Doctor. "With luck, Doctor, the ship will be secure momentarily."

He then leaped after the other Security members, firing at the retreating invaders as he went.

Deck 10

Lizzie nodded and kept up with the security personnel. She hoped that Cleroux was right and they would soon have their ship back. She also knew that whatever was holding them there needed to be dealt with soon if they were to get back to the Starbase at all. She fired again at another of the boarders as they made their way to the transporter room.

"I hope they don't know how to operate our transporter. They could get anywhere!" She remarked.

Posting as Dr Selok - Vulcan Medical Officer.

Sickbay

Sickbay was so full that it was overflowing. This caused the normal neatness and order to cease to be the case and this set Selok's highly ordered mind on edge. He has been deemed to emotional to enter the Vulcan Science Academy so he had joined the fleet instead. Apart from Dr Vaughan, he was the only doctor on board and had been left to tend those in Sickbay. Though the patients needed little monitoring as, after the initial collapse, none seemed to get any worse. He had just finished looking in on the children, who thankfully had yet to get sick when he heard a voice.

[Sickbay]

Hearing no response from the Nurse, Dylan had to assume that she was busy elsewhere. So he called out again. "Is anyone even hearing me? C'mon, get me out of here!"

[Sickbay- Again]

T'Kaac awoke from his state, and looked around, speaking quickly and mostly incoherently, calling out for the Doctor, the Captain, the XO, and pretty much every senior officer on the ship.

Selok went over to the Captain and pulled out a tricorder.

"Please settle down Captain. You collapsed on the Bridge and were brought here. You appear to be suffering from the same condition that has struck most of the crew. If you are in pain then I can give you something to ease it if you wish. However you cannot leave as forcefields have been raised around Sickbay as we have unknown boarders on Deck 10." He said in a calm voice. Motioning for a nurse to look to his fellow Vulcan who was calling out from his bed.

[Martin Jackson]

[Enemy Shuttle]

There were two lifesigns aboard.  That didn't bode well... but, Jackson kept his phaser at the ready and proceeded slowly towards the front, where he was sure he could find the control panels.  He was ready to fire at the first sign of movement, though he hoped the occupants were already knocked out by the stun grenades he had sent in.

The Challenger was in dire straights, invasion or no.  The answer would be on the computers aboard this shuttle... Jackson hoped.

[Lawrence Klaustrin]

"Thank you, sir!" Jackson replied, dashing to get the weapons ready.  Aside from the stun grenades, he also grabbed the highest-power phaser he could find, setting it to the heaviest stun setting available.  It only took a moment or two, and in another moment, they were going off inside the enemy vessel.  "Alright, it's your turn, Mr Klaustrin," he said, turning to him and preparing to beam up.

[Bridge]

"Understood."

Klaustrin nodded back to Jackson just before he disappeared in a flurry of light. The science officer gave up his wild musings on the field trapping them. He had to be ready the moment he needed to pull Jackson back, especially if engineering pulled through. This was going to yield better results anyway, he figured. More information was always better.

Lawrence remembered his suspicions. There seemed like a good chance that the attackers might know what just happened.

"Jackson, if you see anything suspicious, or even feel anything suspicious, tap your comm twice."

[Dylan Torngate]

Posting as Dr Selok - Vulcan Medical Officer.

Sickbay

Sickbay was so full that it was overflowing. This caused the normal neatness and order to cease to be the case and this set Selok's highly ordered mind on edge. He has been deemed to emotional to enter the Vulcan Science Academy so he had joined the fleet instead. Apart from Dr Vaughan, he was the only doctor on board and had been left to tend those in Sickbay. Though the patients needed little monitoring as, after the initial collapse, none seemed to get any worse. He had just finished looking in on the children, who thankfully had yet to get sick when he heard a voice.

Selok went over to the Captain and pulled out a tricorder.

"Please settle down Captain. You collapsed on the Bridge and were brought here. You appear to be suffering from the same condition that has struck most of the crew. If you are in pain then I can give you something to ease it if you wish. However, you cannot leave as forcefields have been raised around Sickbay as we have unknown boarders on Deck 10." He said in a calm voice. Motioning for a nurse to look to his fellow Vulcan who was calling out from his bed.

[Sickbay]

Dylan rolled his eyes at the Doc. "I feel fine. I need to get back to my ship," he said, in cut and dry terms. "Gimme a phaser and let me get to deck 10. I just want to get back to my work," he said. "Or use me as a little pink pincushion and find a cure for this thing. I don't care which. But I feel fine." He said, lying through his teeth, at least at the feeling "fine" part. He truly did want to go and do something, but he was still ill. "Who are these people and why do they want my ship!"

[Engineering]

Sparks flew and conduits blew as the test proceeded. The core had been intentionally been put into a state of unintentional overload, and currently, any regard for Space-OSHA or the like had been ditched. The core whined and groaned, as the power output passed rated limits, and the two remaining engines, and the warp drivers, began exerting massive amounts of force on the hull. The bow, like pushing against a wall, began to suffer structural damage and deform a bit.

An emergency alert filled the bay. as the core began to surpass anyone's ability to control. The computer screeched out a processed warning, quite monotone for the situation.

Warning. Core Breach in Four Minutes. Core Safeguards Disabled. Ejection Systems Offline.

[Shuttle]

Sparks flew from the console of the shuttle, as the two remaining beings hurried to stop whatever the issue was. They spoke in some weird language, one that was not translated.

"I' tanwe naa failing! lye must sana i' subjects ar' auta!" called the first, and the second hurried over before calling back. "Amin can't. Lye must kela", before the device exploded.

The Challenger was now free-floating, the field was gone, and the boarders were mostly contained... but the Challenger was adrift and the purpose of the aliens still unknown... oh yeah, and the Warp Core was set to breach.

It might be a good time to get off of the enemy ship...

[Lek]

[Engineering]

Sparks flew and conduits blew as the test proceeded. The core had been intentionally been put into a state of unintentional overload, and currently, any regard for Space-OSHA or the like had been ditched. The core whined and groaned, as the power output passed rated limits, and the two remaining engines, and the warp drivers, began exerting massive amounts of force on the hull. The bow, like pushing against a wall, began to suffer structural damage and deform a bit.

An emergency alert filled the bay. as the core began to surpass anyone's ability to control. The computer screeched out a processed warning, quite monotone for the situation.

Warning. Core Breach in Four Minutes. Core Safeguards Disabled. Ejection Systems Offline.

[Shuttle]

Sparks flew from the console of the shuttle, as the two remaining beings hurried to stop whatever the issue was. They spoke in some weird language, one that was not translated.

"I' tanwe naa failing! lye must sana i' subjects ar' auta!" called the first, and the second hurried over before calling back. "Amin can't. Lye must kela", before the device exploded.

The Challenger was now free-floating, the field was gone, and the boarders were mostly contained... but the Challenger was adrift and the purpose of the aliens still unknown... oh yeah, and the Warp Core was set to breach.

It might be a good time to get off of the enemy ship...

[Engineering]

As soon as he felt the ship move, Lek barked.

"Goffraj, reinstate the regulators! Jennings, shut down the warp drive!"

Lek immediately increased the magnetic flow to full shut down to start the manual SCRAM procedure. He felt the buns as the panel in front of them doused him in sparks, but short of being caught in a plasma stream, he would not fail. Fortunately,  true next step of the procedure required that he move.

"Blessed Exchequer, I pledge my entire fortune if you help me this day!"

Lek leaped across the 'pool table' and over to the dilithium focusing assembly. He pulled out all four trays, which served to shut down all power input to the core. He rushed back to the pool table to see if his actions were in time.

"That's all we can do! Either the warp core will shut down, or we will have to evacuate!"

He would give the core one more minute, if the breach didn't stop, he would warn the bridge to evacuate.

[Lawrence Klaustrin]

[Sickbay]

Dylan rolled his eyes at the Doc. "I feel fine. I need to get back to my ship," he said, in cut and dry terms. "Gimme a phaser and let me get to deck 10. I just want to get back to my work," he said. "Or use me as a little pink pincushion and find a cure for this thing. I don't care which. But I feel fine." He said, lying through his teeth, at least at the feeling "fine" part. He truly did want to go and do something, but he was still ill. "Who are these people and why do they want my ship!"

[Engineering]

Sparks flew and conduits blew as the test proceeded. The core had been intentionally been put into a state of unintentional overload, and currently, any regard for Space-OSHA or the like had been ditched. The core whined and groaned, as the power output passed rated limits, and the two remaining engines, and the warp drivers, began exerting massive amounts of force on the hull. The bow, like pushing against a wall, began to suffer structural damage and deform a bit.

An emergency alert filled the bay. as the core began to surpass anyone's ability to control. The computer screeched out a processed warning, quite monotone for the situation.

Warning. Core Breach in Four Minutes. Core Safeguards Disabled. Ejection Systems Offline.

[Shuttle]

Sparks flew from the console of the shuttle, as the two remaining beings hurried to stop whatever the issue was. They spoke in some weird language, one that was not translated.

"I' tanwe naa failing! lye must sana i' subjects ar' auta!" called the first, and the second hurried over before calling back. "Amin can't. Lye must kela", before the device exploded.

The Challenger was now free-floating, the field was gone, and the boarders were mostly contained... but the Challenger was adrift and the purpose of the aliens still unknown... oh yeah, and the Warp Core was set to breach.

It might be a good time to get off of the enemy ship...

All Lawrence Klaustrin had to do to bring back Jackson was push a button, but he was struggling to do so. He had suddenly started coughing and his vision began to fade. He didn't remember falling to the ground, but he was somehow conscious enough to remember his mission. Klaustrin needed to get back up because he needed to push that button.

The science officer gulped down air to wake himself up just a bit. He dragged himself upright, just high enough to reach the computer. His arm stretched out and his finger extended. He didn't push it yet. The Challenger was just as dangerous as the enemy craft at the moment, and every second Jackson had could help. Right now, it Klaustrin's best hope if he wanted to survive. Until he got a signal from someone, anyone, he would hold. It was the only thing keeping him awake.

[Rhymus Cleroux]

[Deck 10 - Corridors]

The brave men and women of Starfleet Security braced themselves outside the door to the Transporter Room, phasers leveled at the door leading inside. The boarders had barricaded themselves inside, trapping themselves into a corner with only one way out.

"Unknown Boarders, step out from the transporter room and raise your hands above your heads. Continued conflict is illogical. You are outnumbered and outgunned. By Federation law, those who surrender will not be harmed and will face a fair and just Federation court. If you do not comply with us, we will be forced to storm the room. A Vulcan Security crewman spoke through the door, attempting to negotiate with the boarders.

Rhymus turned to the Doctor. "Doctor Vaughan, I believe our work here is almost done. You should head back to Sickbay, there's no telling how many people this virus infected."

At that moment, the ship began to shake and groan as the structural integrity was put to the test to force Challenger out of the field. The lights flickered heavily, and more than one crewman was thrown from their feet. Then, as if something popped, the shaking stopped, the groaning ceased, and some of the lights turned back on which bathed the area in a white and red hue.

Rhymus, from the floor where he was thrown, quickly assessed the damage of several people being in the same area while the ship shook like a leaf. "Doctor," He called out. "Are you alright?"

[Martin Jackson]

[Shuttle]

Apparently the piece of technology controlling the field holding the Challenger was done for.  The creators of it... he didn't know, one way or another.  What Martin did know was that he had to get back to the Challenger ASAP.  Fearing to make the venture a complete waste, Jackson quickly grabbed up whatever scraps of equipment he could find in the room; bits of wire, chips from the now-exposed guts of the control panel, the personal effects of the apparent crew, anything he could lay his hands on quickly.  The items from the freshly-exploded console burned his hands, but he tried to work through the pain for the sake of information.

Finally, he had a little pile, which he could only place unceremoniously on top of one of the dead-or-unconscious enemy crewmembers.  Grabbing them both and holding them to him, being careful not to spill his pile of "evidence," he touched his commbadge with an unfeeling finger.   =/\=Three to beam back, Mr Klaustrin!  Two unconscious!

[Lizzie Vaughan]

[Deck 10 - Corridors]

The brave men and women of Starfleet Security braced themselves outside the door to the Transporter Room, phasers leveled at the door leading inside. The boarders had barricaded themselves inside, trapping themselves into a corner with only one way out.

"Unknown Boarders, step out from the transporter room and raise your hands above your heads. Continued conflict is illogical. You are outnumbered and outgunned. By Federation law, those who surrender will not be harmed and will face a fair and just Federation court. If you do not comply with us, we will be forced to storm the room. A Vulcan Security crewman spoke through the door, attempting to negotiate with the boarders.

Rhymus turned to the Doctor. "Doctor Vaughan, I believe our work here is almost done. You should head back to Sickbay, there's no telling how many people this virus infected."

At that moment, the ship began to shake and groan as the structural integrity was put to the test to force Challenger out of the field. The lights flickered heavily, and more than one crewman was thrown from their feet. Then, as if something popped, the shaking stopped, the groaning ceased, and some of the lights turned back on which bathed the area in a white and red hue.

Rhymus, from the floor where he was thrown, quickly assessed the damage of several people being in the same area while the ship shook like a leaf. "Doctor," He called out. "Are you alright?"

Deck 10

Lizzie got up and brushed herself down. Slightly embarrassed that she had lost her footing.

"I'm fine thank you Mr Cleroux." She replied with a smile. "I think I'll head back to Sickbay as you suggest because if I'm not very much mistaken, that sound and vibration means we are now free of whatever it is that was holding us. Unfortunately we also appear to be drifting in space, which means we have propulsion issues. I hope they can be sorted as I don't fancy having to abandon ship with this many sick crew." She finished before swapping their weapons back again. She then headed back the way they had come towards the turbolift.

Outside Sickbay

Lizzie arrived outside sickbay to find the forcefield still in place.

Computer. Deactivate the forcefield around Sickbay. Authorisation Vaughan Delta Two Four Seven Three Nine. 

Acknowledged. The Computer replied.

The forcefield dropped and Lizzie strode into Sickbay.

Sickbay

Lizzie stepped through the doors and immediately saw Dylan trying to get up against the advice of one of her staff. She immediately headed over to him.

"Dylan!" She said her her CMO voice, addressing him by his first name for the first time she she had arrived on board. "You need to stay here. You have been relieved of duty under Starfleet Regulation 121 as you are no longer physically able to do your job. I must insist that you remain here until we are either able to get the ship moving or the situation gets worse." She paused and looked at her old friend. "Look." She continued in a softer tone. "The boarders have been dealt with and we are apparently free of whatever was holding us. There is little more we can do for the moment. Please just relax." She finished.