S12 - M4: The Delta Quadrant Vultures

[Kirok]

[Bridge]

With the Borg Cube returned to the Liberated Borg Colony in the Delta Quadrant, the Discovery and her crew were happy to find that the Liberated Borg were doing well physically.  They had even started to rebuild their society.  And of course they had been able to supply more information about the aliens who had robbed them before.

And so, the Discovery and her crew were dropping out of warp just above the planet where the aliens were said to reside.  From the description they had been given, Kirok was still unsure who the aliens might be.  But was inclined as always to give diplomacy a chance.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Jefferies Tube, deck 4, section 23]

"Yup... completely fried." Nevir said, pulling out what was once a biogel conduit, but was now a blackened brick.  The battle with the Cube was a success, but the toll on the ship was great... the sensors took more power than they expected, which combined with the MVA shorted out many of the power relays on board.  They were still in good shape, but the ship needed to remain together for a while.. until they could do a refit.  If they made it to the starbase, that could be done in a week.  On their own, a couple of weeks at least.

"Ensign.. make note of this.  Sections 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 at least.  That puts us at almost a hundred sections that need to be gutted and repaired.  Donovan has his work cut out for him..." Nevir stated, crawling back out of the Jeffies tube, and stretching after being on his back for an hour.  He gripped the gelpack tightly, and then went for the ladder to return to the main deck. 

"You better get to Engineering and let your superior know.  This ship is not separating for a long time." he said, as he made it to the deck and made for the Bridge.

[Bridge]

Entering the bridge, Nevir made short work of reaching his station, and displayed the gelpack for the Admiral.

"We did a number on the ship systems.  I recommend we don't use the MVA for a long time.  We're looking at a month at least of work to replace the fried components and reroute power.  We'll need to keep the ship together to keep the power rerouted." he said, taking a seat and shaking his head.

"It worked.. but even the Discovery has limits.  Shielding the Shran probably didn't help much, either."

[Demlion Riverbank V]

[mess hall]

The Vorta was sitting at a table that allowed him to look out to space. With his poor eye sight he was unable to see the beauty of the stars that spread the thick black ocean of space.

As being a Vorta he had pushed his feelings of the loss of the crew who died and the ones who were injured. He showed compassion and good bed manners to his bet ability. The truth he had not the heart to care. It was cold blooded. To have emotion attachment to these people would cause him to have unwanted feelings. Remorse, depression and simple be sad. The emotions he had cared not to have. The only time he had emotions like that was when he was with his own kind and being front of the gods themselves. He had decided to hide that he has no true deep feelings to them. They were like troops in the Deminion army, nothing less or more less. They seem care less for him so he will return it but act he cares. Like a good diplomatic would do.

So he was there drinking his water. The only fluid that they can't mess up. He figure he just sit here and hear in what was going on in the ship. He could stay in his quarters or stay in sick bay. He had decided to be among those who despise them. If they could come to terms he was here. That was their problem. He had smiled once on that. Those who think ill thoughts will bring their own sick feelings to themselves. He did not have to do anything.

[Fala Awen]

[Awen's Quarters]

Laying in bed, Awen stared at the ceiling. She hadn't slept well since the battle. Even after the ship had been reintegrated there had been a lot of work to do as the damage the Discovery had taken needed to be repaired. The journey to their current destination back in the Delta Quadrant hadn't exactly been quick, but everyone had been kept rather busy.

The Bajoran reluctantly moved the covers aside and slid out of bed so she could get dressed and ready for another day. At least today wouldn't be as hectic, or so she thought. Awen let her mind wander in the sonic shower and while she got dressed, doing her best to simply not think of anything and relax. When she finished, she took a last look in the mirror before nodding to herself and heading out the door.

[Science Lab 1]

The doors to one of the Science labs slid open and Awen walked in. A few others from the department were already inside, working on various research and projects. She gave a brief nod to any who looked up at her before choosing a console facing the door; her training and the stories from her father and brother taught her to not leave her back exposed - something she always kept in mind.

Her fingers slid across the console, bringing it to life. As far as she knew, she would be working in the lab today. Unless, of course, Kinley or one of the other Senior Staff wanted her on the bridge.

Awen noticed a few of her fellow scientists trying to casually watch her; they'd heard about her taking over for Tactical during the battle and apparently were intrigued that she'd been able to do so. Several of them had research so deeply ingrained in them that they probably would've just frozen or passed out at the thought of doing what she had. It seemed some of them were tempted to ask her about it, but thus far none had. Perhaps they were too nervous or perhaps her bearing was too intimidating; Awen always held herself with a confidence, though not to the point of being arrogant - she was just sure of herself and her abilities.

Deciding to ignore them for now, or until they got up the courage to approach her, the Bajoran turned back to her work. The ship had been scanning the area on the way to their destination and, if what she had heard was true, they were now at their destination. Planetary scans as well as spatial scans would be coming in and the data would need to be analyzed. What would they find?

[LK Reede]

[Mess Hall]

Standing in front of the replicator, LK gave her shoulders another roll hoping to work that kink out of her neck. She'd been taking inventory for the past four hours: head down (mostly), arm at a slightly awkward angle as she scribbled, tapped and punched at the various padds. Getting everything down so the CMO would know exactly what the department could and couldn't do.

"Bacon, crisp, scrambled eggs, juice, uh, orange juice," she said to the matter convertor's rapidly blinking lights.

When her selection materialized, LK picked up the tray and for the first time looked around the room. Nodding to the other medical officer in the room, she picked a table by the window looking out at the stars. With a sigh, she sat and started consuming her meal.

[Demlion Riverbank V]

[Mess Hall]

Standing in front of the replicator, LK gave her shoulders another roll hoping to work that kink out of her neck. She'd been taking inventory for the past four hours: head down (mostly), arm at a slightly awkward angle as she scribbled, tapped and punched at the various padds. Getting everything down so the CMO would know exactly what the department could and couldn't do.

"Bacon, crisp, scrambled eggs, juice, uh, orange juice," she said to the matter convertor's rapidly blinking lights.

When her selection materialized, LK picked up the tray and for the first time looked around the room. Nodding to the other medical officer in the room, she picked a table by the window looking out at the stars. With a sigh, she sat and started consuming her meal.

[Kirok]

[Jefferies Tube, deck 4, section 23]

"Yup... completely fried." Nevir said, pulling out what was once a biogel conduit, but was now a blackened brick.  The battle with the Cube was a success, but the toll on the ship was great... the sensors took more power than they expected, which combined with the MVA shorted out many of the power relays on board.  They were still in good shape, but the ship needed to remain together for a while.. until they could do a refit.  If they made it to the starbase, that could be done in a week.  On their own, a couple of weeks at least.

"Ensign.. make note of this.  Sections 23, 24, 25, 26, and 27 at least.  That puts us at almost a hundred sections that need to be gutted and repaired.  Donovan has his work cut out for him..." Nevir stated, crawling back out of the Jeffies tube, and stretching after being on his back for an hour.  He gripped the gelpack tightly, and then went for the ladder to return to the main deck. 

"You better get to Engineering and let your superior know.  This ship is not separating for a long time." he said, as he made it to the deck and made for the Bridge.

[Bridge]

Entering the bridge, Nevir made short work of reaching his station, and displayed the gelpack for the Admiral.

"We did a number on the ship systems.  I recommend we don't use the MVA for a long time.  We're looking at a month at least of work to replace the fried components and reroute power.  We'll need to keep the ship together to keep the power rerouted." he said, taking a seat and shaking his head.

"It worked.. but even the Discovery has limits.  Shielding the Shran probably didn't help much, either."

[Bridge]

Kirok looked down at the gelpack in Nevir's hand.  It didn't look brand new or straight off the shelf.  No, it looked more like it has endured a 7 year long journey and had barely survived.

"An acceptable consequence given the situation.  We can certainly take the MVA offline, but lets keep that on a need to know basis.  Use whatever personnel you need to expedite repairs" Kirok replied.

"And take comfort that your MVA plan was successful in keeping both the Shran and the Discovery safe.  The diversion tactic helped as well.  Good job, Mr. Tekin" Kirok added.

[Kirok]

[Science Lab 1]

The doors to one of the Science labs slid open and Awen walked in. A few others from the department were already inside, working on various research and projects. She gave a brief nod to any who looked up at her before choosing a console facing the door; her training and the stories from her father and brother taught her to not leave her back exposed - something she always kept in mind.

Her fingers slid across the console, bringing it to life. As far as she knew, she would be working in the lab today. Unless, of course, Kinley or one of the other Senior Staff wanted her on the bridge.

Awen noticed a few of her fellow scientists trying to casually watch her; they'd heard about her taking over for Tactical during the battle and apparently were intrigued that she'd been able to do so. Several of them had research so deeply ingrained in them that they probably would've just frozen or passed out at the thought of doing what she had. It seemed some of them were tempted to ask her about it, but thus far none had. Perhaps they were too nervous or perhaps her bearing was too intimidating; Awen always held herself with a confidence, though not to the point of being arrogant - she was just sure of herself and her abilities.

Deciding to ignore them for now, or until they got up the courage to approach her, the Bajoran turned back to her work. The ship had been scanning the area on the way to their destination and, if what she had heard was true, they were now at their destination. Planetary scans as well as spatial scans would be coming in and the data would need to be analyzed. What would they find?

[Science Lab 1]



EQ had volunteered to help replace the gelpacks.  He had already replace about 100 of them.  And now he was in the Science Lab.

It was one of his least favorite place on the ship.  Mostly because he didn't really have a science oriented brain and felt dumb about the science oriented folks.  But a job was a job and so he replaced more gelpack's in the room.

"Hey" Kimball called out to the new comer.  He had saw her a few times on the Bridge, but still did not know her name.  "I'm EQ Kimball" he said with a slight upward movement of his chin.

[Fala Awen]

[Science Lab 1]

Awen frowned slightly as she stared at the console screen. There was some kind of glitch with the data. So far, she'd tried twice to retrieve the sensor data for analysis and both times she'd received an error. Most likely it had something to do with the damage that was still being repaired on the ship; perhaps one of the repairs was causing a disruption.

"Hey" Kimball called out to the new comer.  He had saw her a few times on the Bridge, but still did not know her name.  "I'm EQ Kimball" he said with a slight upward movement of his chin.

Hearing someone call out, the Bajoran looked around the room searching for the source. Her eyes settled on the liberated Borg she'd worked with on the bridge during their last mission. He was working over in a corner - presumably he'd been kneeling down replacing or fixing something when she'd come in and that's why she hadn't seen him.

"Hello EQ," Awen answered. She tapped the console and set it to work trying to get the sensor data again before making her way over to him. Although it had been slightly unnerving seeing a man with several noticeable Borg implants at first, she was slowly getting used to it. And unlike the Vorta, EQ presumably hadn't had a choice about being assimilated.

Pausing a bit away from where he was working, Awen said, "I'm Fala Awen; we met, although not officially, on the bridge previously." EQ had one of the panels off and it seemed he was replacing some gelpacks. They must have been damaged during the fight. "Could what you're working on be interfering with me retrieving sensor data? It's not urgent at the moment, but I had wanted to get a head start in analyzing it, but keep getting errors. I wasn't sure if someone was working on something that could be doing that or not..."

OFF: Tag EQ

[LK Reede]

LK took a bite of the crispy bacon, smiled as she chewed. The stars were especially bright for some reason. But they didn't just hang in space: they moved swiftly away from the ship. As the Discovery dropped out of warp, however, the stars became stationary and faded away. LK sighed.   

Dr. Reede hadn't heard the Vorta step up to her table. Her head turned sharply toward him.

"Hello," she said, waving her hand at a chair. "Please join me. It isn't space I see. It's the vastness, the infinite and unimaginable expanse of it." She frowned then nodded. His eyes had a dullness to them. Nearsighted? she asked herself. Of course, she answered herself.

"It's hard to describe space," she said as she nodded once again. "It's a bit like being in the middle of nothing. By the way, I'm LK Reede. And you are...?"

[Kinley Garrison]

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge]

Kirok looked down at the gelpack in Nevir's hand.  It didn't look brand new or straight off the shelf.  No, it looked more like it has endured a 7 year long journey and had barely survived.

"An acceptable consequence given the situation.  We can certainly take the MVA offline, but lets keep that on a need to know basis.  Use whatever personnel you need to expedite repairs" Kirok replied.

"And take comfort that your MVA plan was successful in keeping both the Shran and the Discovery safe.  The diversion tactic helped as well.  Good job, Mr. Tekin" Kirok added.

[Bridge]

Nevir nodded, giving a small smile.  "Despite all this, the Discovery handled the rewiring much better than I would have thought.  And to be fair, that should go to Ms. Garrison.  She noted a mistake I made on the Fleetwood, and corrected it.  We might have either lost cohesion with the holograms, or at worst blown out the entire sensor grid."

Nevir motioned a crewman to take the gel pack and take it down to engineering.  "Science and Engineering are working on replacing the packs.  Engineering is going to have to strip out kilometers of conduits, they should be on it now.  Power reserves are back up to max; being able to bypass much of the conduits to attach to the other cores is our lifeblood.  Weapons will be back online in an hour.  Hopefully our vultures can wait until then." he said, turning and motioning to the viewscreen.

"As you're here, I'll go ahead and head to Engineering.  Call me if you need anything." he said, standing up and going to the door.  Afterall, they needed to make sure the ship was fully functional as a single mass.

[Engineering]

The journey to main Engineering was uneventful, but he had to admit, it was a bit mesmerizing to look at what was honestly a dual warp core. A tandem warp core as it was called, as they were two cores working together which could be separated.   Nevir looked around, but Donovan was obviously busy.  Instead of waiting, the First Officer went for the next best thing: another Engineering crewman.

"Crewman... I have a job for you."

[Demlion Riverbank V]

LK took a bite of the crispy bacon, smiled as she chewed. The stars were especially bright for some reason. But they didn't just hang in space: they moved swiftly away from the ship. As the Discovery dropped out of warp, however, the stars became stationary and faded away. LK sighed.   

Dr. Reede hadn't heard the Vorta step up to her table. Her head turned sharply toward him.

"Hello," she said, waving her hand at a chair. "Please join me. It isn't space I see. It's the vastness, the infinite and unimaginable expanse of it." She frowned then nodded. His eyes had a dullness to them. Nearsighted? she asked herself. Of course, she answered herself.

"It's hard to describe space," she said as she nodded once again. "It's a bit like being in the middle of nothing. By the way, I'm LK Reede. And you are...?"

[Kirok]

[Science Lab 1]

Awen frowned slightly as she stared at the console screen. There was some kind of glitch with the data. So far, she'd tried twice to retrieve the sensor data for analysis and both times she'd received an error. Most likely it had something to do with the damage that was still being repaired on the ship; perhaps one of the repairs was causing a disruption.

Hearing someone call out, the Bajoran looked around the room searching for the source. Her eyes settled on the liberated Borg she'd worked with on the bridge during their last mission. He was working over in a corner - presumably he'd been kneeling down replacing or fixing something when she'd come in and that's why she hadn't seen him.

"Hello EQ," Awen answered. She tapped the console and set it to work trying to get the sensor data again before making her way over to him. Although it had been slightly unnerving seeing a man with several noticeable Borg implants at first, she was slowly getting used to it. And unlike the Vorta, EQ presumably hadn't had a choice about being assimilated.

Pausing a bit away from where he was working, Awen said, "I'm Fala Awen; we met, although not officially, on the bridge previously." EQ had one of the panels off and it seemed he was replacing some gelpacks. They must have been damaged during the fight. "Could what you're working on be interfering with me retrieving sensor data? It's not urgent at the moment, but I had wanted to get a head start in analyzing it, but keep getting errors. I wasn't sure if someone was working on something that could be doing that or not..."

OFF: Tag EQ

[Science Lab]



EQ nodded along.  Yes, he had seen her on the Bridge.  But he had failed to get her name.

"Yeah, our last mission overworked the gel packs.  And the gel packs power and communicate with all they systems on the ship.  They ain't working right.  So everyone is having problems" Kimball replied.  He offered a sympathetic shrug.

[Science Lab]

"Hi, Ma'am.  I'm finishing up here now" Kimball said.  He inserted the last pack and started to close up the unit.

"Things should be back to normal soon enough.  Just give it a few minutes to reestablish the connection to the main computer.  They you can science away to your hearts content" EQ offered as he picked up his tool kit.

[Kirok]

[Bridge]

Nevir nodded, giving a small smile.  "Despite all this, the Discovery handled the rewiring much better than I would have thought.  And to be fair, that should go to Ms. Garrison.  She noted a mistake I made on the Fleetwood, and corrected it.  We might have either lost cohesion with the holograms, or at worst blown out the entire sensor grid."

Nevir motioned a crewman to take the gel pack and take it down to engineering.  "Science and Engineering are working on replacing the packs.  Engineering is going to have to strip out kilometers of conduits, they should be on it now.  Power reserves are back up to max; being able to bypass much of the conduits to attach to the other cores is our lifeblood.  Weapons will be back online in an hour.  Hopefully our vultures can wait until then." he said, turning and motioning to the viewscreen.

"As you're here, I'll go ahead and head to Engineering.  Call me if you need anything." he said, standing up and going to the door.  Afterall, they needed to make sure the ship was fully functional as a single mass.

[Engineering]

The journey to main Engineering was uneventful, but he had to admit, it was a bit mesmerizing to look at what was honestly a dual warp core. A tandem warp core as it was called, as they were two cores working together which could be separated.   Nevir looked around, but Donovan was obviously busy.  Instead of waiting, the First Officer went for the next best thing: another Engineering crewman.

"Crewman... I have a job for you."

[Bridge]

Kirok's left eyebrow rose slightly.  "That may be so, but to your credit you used the idea.  But I will try to compliment Ms. Garrison the next time I see her" Kirok said.

"Thank you for the update.  I certainly will" Kirok said.  He offered Nevir a small bow.  Then he sat back down in the central chair.