Divided We Fall

[Ian Galloway]

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

If it had been any other faction, Lonic likely would not have been able to recognise either, the debris as well as the lacklustre accent in the distress call. Luckily though, Klingons happened to be - as a matter of lucky chance - one of his study pet projects.
Commander Willow being able to definitely identify the Romulan language - spoken with the same difficulties - supported Sugiyama's and his assumption that the (logical) intention of the distress call had been to be understood by the widest possible audience.

Now looking towards the exchange Commander herself, practically in unison with Lieutenant Sugiyama, he waited for a response.
In the background, the repeating distress call could still be heard, spreading an oddly eerie ambience across the bridge.

Looking up to the Commander, Lonic silently exhaled.
"œNot in a practical way, Commander.
The entirety of these nebulae causes us interference of various degrees, the best recommendation I can offer is to stick to steering though the areas with the lowest density to keep the effects to a minimum. Alternatively a network of probes could bring a slight increase in reception via quantity of network coverage, but considering the distance and time being a factor here, it would hardly be a feasible option.
The best short term solution will be us receiving clear as currently possible readings via proximity to the ship in question."

Once more he looked at his screen.
Yes, the readings were gaining clarity - Somewhat.
The visual on the main viewscreen showed a fizzling purplish-red soup of pixels, interrupted by occasional sparkles and reflections, which most likely were debris.

"œCopy."
He simply answered, switching to yellow alert and waiting for any changes among his readings as to whether or not Sugiyama's hail received any answer.
He certainly could make out some shift in the signal source as all of a sudden the repeated distress call ceased, leaving the bridge crew in a moment of uncomfortable, almost even alarming silence.

Lonic raised one non-existent eyebrow.
This was certainly not what he had been expecting. But then again, depending on the severity of the other ship's damage, there was a realistic chance that they could not easily respond within a few seconds.
"œNo response. Yet. But they must have received us. I register shifting proximity sparks"¦ Of some sort"¦ But sensors claim that the ship has not moved."

He bit his lower lip and looked at the screen again, narrowed his eyes and watched the "˜sparkles' seemingly dancing and shimmering, as all of a sudden a shock - akin to a felt earthquake - seemed to hit the ship, flinging Lonic against his console.

A physical crash? A tractor beam perhaps?

Within a matter of a few seconds the Courser's lights went dark; terminals, screens and padds entirely blacking out and the ship itself coming to a seeming complete halt.
What seemed like a crash though was merely a bump - luckily - (or deliberately?) keeping the ship intact...

Regaining consciousness Lonic forced himself back to his feet, yet could hardly fight the nausea and the pain.
Something was not as it shoul---- Was his last thought before he involuntarily projectile vomited in a straight line across his station.
Hastily wiping his terminal with his sleeve, the semi-delirious officer saw lights slowly flickering back onto his terminal.
LCARS was rebooting and scanning for errors, yet in this very second he could only hope that his breakfast had not hit the Captain and the XO.
(Especially the XO, there was something strangely eerie about her aura"¦)

"œSystems coming back online..." He groaned, looked up and squinted.
Despite the "˜impact', he seemed to be the only one affected so"¦ Severely.
Trying to ignore the ringing in his ears and the smell of fresh blood in his nose he looked at Willow.
"œRebuilding Database at 43%. 46"¦ 47..."
He cleared his throat and wiped his bleeding nose with his clean sleeve.
"œI may require medical assistance..."
He exhaled once more and watched the loading animation finalising.

The next shock moment however did not take long to fall into place.
With computer systems back online, the first thing all of them would note was the unmistakable screaming noise of an alert, followed by everyone's terminals being flooded in status messages.

"œCaptain, we have a hull breach at Deck 39, countless automated emergency reports and.. Several intruder alerts throughout the decks 31 to 42"¦ As well as..."
He paused for a moment then squinted.
"œ...We lost internal sensors on the affected decks once more..."

[Bridge - USS Courser]

Arafe picked himself off the deck with a groan. He'd been thrown against a bulkhead and while he was almost vertical, he wasn't able to think clearly yet. The only thought that seemed to be able to penetrate the fog was.

"Ten Forward is going to be a mess."

When the Ops officer reported boarders, this galvanized Arafe into shaking off the cobwebs and to stumble for the turbolift.

"NOBODY INTRUDES IN MY BAR!"

He raged internally and when the doors opened, he growled.

"Ten Forward."

It had been a long time since he'd had to be a bouncer, but it wouldn't be first time he'd thrown someone out of his establishment and whoever had boarded was going to be in for a surprise when they got to his domain.

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimi Sugiyama
USS Courser - Bridge

Kimi's brow furrowed when the distress signal ceased. The reaction surely meant they had been heard, but why no response? Lonic also seemed to register the same conclusion. He also spotted proximity readings... but there was nothing on the screen, and their ship had surely not moved.

Kimi thought about physically speaking a live audio signal in one of the chosen languages. Then the Courser jolted, as if struck by a battering ram of a meteor. Kimi was sent somersaulting over her station, to land sprawled across the floor. The lights went dark.

She struggled to her feet, a pain shooting up her hip where she had collided with the desk. In the dim glow of rebooting stations, she saw other crew members recovering.

Kimi shook her head. What was going on? Was that an asteroid - or bit of wrecked starship - that had hit them? Surely sensors would have warned them?

Then Lonic began reporting, and the grim reality began to settle upon her...

"œCaptain, we have a hull breach at Deck 39, countless automated emergency reports and.. Several intruder alerts throughout the decks 31 to 42"¦ As well as..."
He paused for a moment then squinted.
"œ...We lost internal sensors on the affected decks once more..."

That sounded like... like... No! It was just too terrible to contemplate for Kimi. But it sounded like an attack. The proximity alerts - small enemy ships disguised against the interference of the nebula? Had the Courser been drawn into a trap?

Kimi glanced to Lieutenant Commander Vetath. No doubt the security chief would immediately order to repel the invaders with violence.

"Captain, Lieutenant Commander, maybe it is a misunderstanding... or something automated out of their control? If I could just speak to them, face to face, we might still be able to help them!"

[Xasik]

[USS COURSER - Bridge]

Lieutenant Commander Willow Fletcher

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

Looking up to the Commander, Lonic silently exhaled.
"œNot in a practical way, Commander.
The entirety of these nebulae causes us interference of various degrees, the best recommendation I can offer is to stick to steering though the areas with the lowest density to keep the effects to a minimum. Alternatively a network of probes could bring a slight increase in reception via quantity of network coverage, but considering the distance and time being a factor here, it would hardly be a feasible option.
The best short term solution will be us receiving clear as currently possible readings via proximity to the ship in question."

Listening to Lieutenant Lonic answer her question, Willow nodded. She knew better than to question someone who had a better understanding of the situation than she did. This was why different people were trained for different jobs after all. Everyone had their own fields of expertise and the key to a well functioning crew was to trust those experts.

"œVery well, Lieutenant. We shall proceed with your recommendation. Proceed with caution. We have civilians aboard and I'd like to keep them in one piece."

Looking at the main view screen, Willow was momentarily mesmerized by the purplish-red pixels and the sparkles and reflections. She was tempted to question what it was but refrained from doing so, trusting that she would be informed if it was anything to worry about.

The Romulan shuddered when the distress call suddenly stopped. That did not bode well in her mind. The hair on the back of her neck was still standing on end. It was almost painful at this point. She almost flinched when Lieutenant Lonic spoke again.

"œNo response. Yet. But they must have received us. I register shifting proximity sparks"¦ Of some sort"¦ But sensors claim that the ship has not moved."

He bit his lower lip and looked at the screen again, narrowed his eyes and watched the "˜sparkles' seemingly dancing and shimmering, as all of a sudden a shock - akin to a felt earthquake - seemed to hit the ship, flinging Lonic against his console.

A physical crash? A tractor beam perhaps?

Within a matter of a few seconds the Courser's lights went dark; terminals, screens and padds entirely blacking out and the ship itself coming to a seeming complete halt.
What seemed like a crash though was merely a bump - luckily - (or deliberately?) keeping the ship intact...

Something wasn't right. Her years of intense training had prepared her for all kinds of situations, honing her instincts to be as sharp as possible. Distress calls did not just cut off like that unless something  had happened to the source, or it was a trap. With the ship still on sensors and not moving, but shifting proximity sparks detected, she was now certain it was likely the latter.

"œRed A-"

The Romulan never finished her command as a shock wave hit the USS Courser. She didn't know how she had managed it, but the petite XO had managed to stay on her feet. She had stumbled but had managed to stay upright, which was more than she could say for most of the bridge. When the lights went out and the terminals, padds and screens went dark her suspicions were realized.

"œIs everyone alright?" She questioned out loud as she looked around the bridge to see if anyone needed help. "We've been hit with something. Some kind of EMP?" She took a breath to calm herself down. "œI'm certain that this was a trap and we so willingly wandered in. Unless we can get systems back online we'll be stuck, like a Constitution class ship caught in a Tholian web."

Taking a step to the side on impulse, Willow avoided wearing the contents of Lieutenant Lonic's stomach on her uniform. Small splatters of it had landed on her boots but that would be far easier to clean up than her uniform. She wrinkled her nose slightly as the smell hit her but did not react otherwise.

"œAre you alright, Lieutenant?" She turned to look at Lonic. She felt her stomach clench as the urge to vomit tickled at the back of her throat. She swallowed it down. She would show no signs of weakness while on duty.

"œSystems coming back online..." He groaned, looked up and squinted.
Despite the "˜impact', he seemed to be the only one affected so"¦ Severely.
Trying to ignore the ringing in his ears and the smell of fresh blood in his nose he looked at Willow.
"œRebuilding Database at 43%. 46"¦ 47..."
He cleared his throat and wiped his bleeding nose with his clean sleeve.
"œI may require medical assistance..."
He exhaled once more and watched the loading animation finalising.

The next shock moment however did not take long to fall into place.
With computer systems back online, the first thing all of them would note was the unmistakable screaming noise of an alert, followed by everyone's terminals being flooded in status messages.

"œCaptain, we have a hull breach at Deck 39, countless automated emergency reports and.. Several intruder alerts throughout the decks 31 to 42"¦ As well as..."
He paused for a moment then squinted.
"œ...We lost internal sensors on the affected decks once more..."

She felt a surge of relief as she heard Lieutenant Lonic state that the systems were coming back online. At least now they would have a chance of survival. She nodded when the Lieutenant stated that he may require medical assistance.

"œOf course," she reassured him, taking another look around the bridge as the crew picked themselves up before tapping her comm badge.

"œBridge to Medical. We've got crew up here that require medical attention." Willow spoke as clearly as possible. Remaining calm and in control was essential. She assisted anyone who needed help back to their feet or into a chair.

Willow's relief at having the systems back online was short lived as the ear piercing alert siren cut through the air. She gritted her teeth as she helped someone into a chair and looked at the closest terminal being plastered by status messages. The Romulan's blood turned cold as she listened to Lonic's report. A hull breach AND intruders? Not Today! Not on her watch!

Kimi Sugiyama
USS Courser - Bridge

Kimi glanced to Lieutenant Commander Vetath. No doubt the security chief would immediately order to repel the invaders with violence.

"Captain, Lieutenant Commander, maybe it is a misunderstanding... or something automated out of their control? If I could just speak to them, face to face, we might still be able to help them!"

Willow turned towards Kimiko when she spoke up and addressed the Captain and herself. The Romulan's gaze was cold and piercing as her blood began to boil.

"œAbsolutely not Lieutenant. This was no misunderstanding. You don't just send out a distress call and then invade the responding ship without an invitation! You will remain here on the bridge until the situation is under control." She looked towards the turbo lift door. "œIssue a ship-wide emergency alert and tell everyone to hide if they can."

She tapped her comm badge.  "œFletcher to security teams. We've got reports of intruders on decks 31 through 42 with a hull breach on deck 39. Assume our guests are hostile and proceed with extreme caution. I'm on my way to now. This is what we've trained for. Alenko, Williams, report to the bridge and defend it if need be."

"œYes Lieutenant Commander," came the response from Alenko. Willow nodded to herself and made her way to the turbo lift. She turned to look at the bridge crew as the door began to close.
"œBe safe," she nodded to them before the door hissed shut completely.

The turbo lift ride seemed impossibly long when in reality it was only a few seconds. She stepped out of the turbo lift and was greeted by a team of her security officers.

"œVesh ta'jot!" She yelled to inspire her security officers as she felt the excitement of action coursing through her system. "œLet's kick some Veruul off the ship!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[USS COURSER - Turbo lift]

Lieutenant Alenko

Alenko looked at Williams as they took the turbo lift to the bridge. What had started as a peaceful day had turned to chaos in a matter of seconds. He had barely had time to process the situation before Lieutenant Commander Fletcher had ordered them to action. Williams looked just as ruffled as he felt.

"œIt'll be okay," he reassured her as the door hissed open to reveal the bridge. Alenko saluted to the Captain and the crew before he and Williams took their defensive positions on either side of the turbo lift door. Williams signaled him to let him know that she was prepared for a fight.

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimiko Sugiyama
USS Courser - Bridge

Kimi started with alarm as Lieutenant Commander Vetath called for medical assistance. She looked across to see Lonic in a state.

"Oh, no..." she rushed across to the Betan and helped him back into his chair. "Are you alright?"

She checked him over with concern. "Medical are on their way... But was that really just from the physical jolt?"

Events were speeding up around her. The red alert alarms screamed. Personnel were moving in response to the boarding. Kimi looked over the screens at Lonic's station... screens filled with static, where the unknown visitors were moving through the ship.

The ferocious Romulan had made intentions clear. But Vetath does not know what we are dealing with here... thought Kimi. She glanced longingly at the screens again.

There was another, higher authority on the ship.

Kimi grabbed her tricorder and slipped the strap over her shoulder.

"Captain Addams, this is an unknown alien entity. I have dedicated my studies to this specialty. I need to assess its nature and abilities, to aid the security section. Request permission to enter the affected decks!"

[Sirol]

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

Lonic's gaze followed Arafe as he instantly announced to take care of Ten Forward and potential intruders and left the bridge before anyone could bring up any concerns.
Then again, Deck 10 was far enough away to deem him at a minimal risk. For now.
With a groan the OPS officer laid one hand onto his left temple and tried to ignore the still stinging pain.
Slowly but surely he began to realise that he was not injured, but something was actually damaged"¦

"œIs everyone alright?" She questioned out loud as she looked around the bridge to see if anyone needed help. "We've been hit with something. Some kind of EMP?" She took a breath to calm herself down. "œI'm certain that this was a trap and we so willingly wandered in. Unless we can get systems back online we'll be stuck, like a Constitution class ship caught in a Tholian web."

Lonic looked up at Commander Willow, yet decided to not nod.
Instead he gave her an approving thumbs up, followed by a hesitant, semi breathless: "œPotentially. Likely even"¦ I can not detect any physical damage except for the hull breach"¦
It seems though that the "˜ship' has moved..."
He squinted at the readings, yet immediately understood"¦
"œIt has latched onto us at starboard. Right at the hull breach"¦ This seems to be the origin of the boarding parties"¦
I am not sure about Constitution Class specifics, but yes, this being a coincidence is unlikely next to impossible."

"œAre you alright, Lieutenant?" She turned to look at Lonic. She felt her stomach clench as the urge to vomit tickled at the back of her throat. She swallowed it down. She would show no signs of weakness while on duty.

"œBridge to Medical. We've got crew up here that require medical attention." Willow spoke as clearly as possible. Remaining calm and in control was essential. She assisted anyone who needed help back to their feet or into a chair.

"œI can think clearly, I just need some assistance with my disorientation..."
He answered towards the XO's question, yet ultimately was thankful as she called for medical.
He hoped he would be able to stay on the bridge to keep making himself useful, but would ultimately follow expert advice.

"Captain, Lieutenant Commander, maybe it is a misunderstanding... or something automated out of their control? If I could just speak to them, face to face, we might still be able to help them!"

"œAbsolutely not Lieutenant. This was no misunderstanding. You don't just send out a distress call and then invade the responding ship without an invitation! You will remain here on the bridge until the situation is under control." She looked towards the turbo lift door. "œIssue a ship-wide emergency alert and tell everyone to hide if they can."

The OPS officer listened to the two while still looking at his readings, as well as the collected status reports of the surrounding stations.
While he actually understood and - in a way even shared - Sugiyama's emphasis on the chance to solve whatever situation they found themself here via dialogue, there were simply too many unknown factors to have any conversation start even remotely promising.
Neither were they aware of the motivation, nor even the identity of their attackers, and as such in a more than unfortunate position for any sort of talking"¦
He did not particularly approve of it, but for now, a strong defense seemed like the wisest strategy they had.

"œAccording to my readings we are still tied to this position, impulse and warp drive are online though. We might be able to rid ourselves from the attacker's ship on our hull by sealing the affected decks and shaking it off with a sharp curve on low impulse."
He looked at the Flight Control Officer.
Of course this was not Lonic's designated field, nor was it his call to make such an order, but it was a suggestion that might work. Might"¦

As Willow left the bridge and soon after her "˜replacement security officers' arrived, Lonic gave them a quick nod, but then looked back at Sugiyama again.
"œAre there any historical reports of similar events? Especially in this area?
We might have fallen victim to a known factor. Pirated perhaps..." He theorised"¦

_______________________________________

USS Courster / Main Engineering â†' Deck 36

Lieutenant Golshani

While it was a matter of mere minutes, to many it felt like hours.
Chaos, panic, fear.
Shan was no exception here, yet he simply had no time to live out or even show his fear.
"œ...Get to the Sickbay, and no questions." He calmly spoke, deeply inhaling while waving his staff in main engineering to gather.
Sickbay had been the first instinctual place he could have come up with that felt subjectively safe in a situation like this.
Subjectively safe enough to send his children"¦
"œWhy the sick----"
With that the call faded out. They must have lost contact with the rest of the ship again"¦

Shan bit his lower lip, then looked at sh'Sael and C8 Red.
"œYou know the drill, meaning, this is no drill!
Gather the staff and lock the section. Whatever is intruding here, I do not want them anywhere near engineering"¦ Arm yourself if you have to. Emphasis on if you have to!
If I hear about a single unnecessarily broken nose, bruised butt or stubbed toe, I will personally tear you a new one"¦ Roger?"
"œRoger..." C8 answered in a slightly uncomfortable tone, watching Shan prepare to head out. "œ...Where are you going?"
"œComm is out. Jenkins is still outside. Should only take"¦ Like three minutes..."
sh'Sael quietly rolled her eyes but acknowledged Shan's sentiment. C8 in the meantime began with the lockdown of the first few strategic points, only to look up to Shan again.
"œYour usual Jefferies Tube I presume? I will keep it open for three minutes..."
The lieutenant nodded and sprinted out.
With a little luck, in three minutes he and Jenkins would be back in engineering and making bets on Security vs. Intruders"¦

Luck however was neither on Shan's, nor on most people's side today.
Despite how fast he sprinted down the corridor, the shortest route still proved to be the wrong one.
As he noticed various officers and civilians alike covered in what he could only describe as "˜someone's sticky breakfast'. Inhaling the substance made him drowsy and nauseous, so he covered his nose with his sleeve as he proceeded.
The crew members and civilians were seemingly weakened, with the paste glueing them against floors and walls, effectively immobilising them.
For a second his gaze met that of a trapped young Tellarite officer, before he too felt a warm smack on his back and found himself instantly immobilised and stuck to the floor.

He felt like passing out, and was barely able to tell whether it was seconds or minutes, yet eventually he could feel a grip, then two, pulling him out of the sticky gunk and loosely dragging him back to his feet.
He noticed the Tellarite near him still being trapped. Maybe a low priority target of some sort?...
Shan found himself surrounded by"¦ He assumed it must have been the intruders... Humanoid shapes, covered in old, clunky space suits, most of them armed...
One of them leaned over to him and grabbed his chin to have a better look at his face, before puncturing his skin with a small device.
Looking at the device, the stranger eventually nodded towards the others.
"œThis is a promising one." The stranger's voice could be heard.
"œTake him, and the one over there to the Ijii." The person the stranger pointed at was no other than Jenkins. The reason Shan had come for. Seemingly unconscious and unharmed"¦
Why was he?... Was the last thing he could remember himself thinking before he too lost consciousness again, the voices and impressions stopping to seep into his mind, leaving behind only sleep and silence"¦

_______________________________________

What happened near engineering could be observed across all of the affected decks: People being immobilised by what could best be described as chemical adhesive grenades, before the intruders would come and assess them, carefully picking out specific targets to take them aboard their ship.
It was fast, ruthless and very effective...
No unnecessary violence, no unnecessary damage; just taking what they need, yet not being afraid to fight their way though if need arose"¦

After no less than seven minutes the intruders began to retreat, with their last wave of abductees in tow.
Slowly but surely they would make where they could, and fight where they had to, their way back onto their ship, and eventually - as fast as they had appeared - detach without further communication; leaving the Courser behind to remain stuck, with 121 less people aboard...

[Kyan Mackenzie]

:: USS Courser | Sickbay ::

Petty Officer First Class... as of three days ago...Wyatt McCall took a moment to survey the scene in the corridor outside sickbay. Wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve, the young medic took a moment to check the four stations set up on either bulhead. Thankfully the one with the black marker roughly thirty meters down the corridor didn't have anyone there except the medic assigned to it. The green one had a throng of walking wounded sitting, standing, and laying on the deck. Where the yellow marker sat, there were two officers lying on makeshift cots being attended by medics. They would either be admitted after things settled down or be sent back to duty.

The area around the red marker had less people, but none of them were standing. There was a doctor there, Lieutenant T'Mora, calmly providing care to seriously injured patients. One of them, an Andorian thaan, had lost an eye and part of an antennae. His mustard topped duty jacket was soaked in his deep cyan blood, and singed on the right side where he'd taken the brunt of an exploding console. McCall was about to tell the medic assisting T'Mora that she would be the next one taken inside when a crewman in a security uniform rounded the corner at a sprint and stopped, gasping for air. McCall sighed. It wasn't going to be good news.

"Report." the medic ordered evenly.

"Intruders are headed this way." the Crewman replied haltingly, still catching his breath. "You've got about two minutes. We can't generate force fields so you need to get everyone inside sickbay."

McCall was afraid but tamped down the bubbling panic brewing. "No, we can't do that." he replied. "How many men can your teams spare to make a cordon around this area?"

The crewman shook his head.

McCall nodded. "Alright then. Get back to it." He then turned back to his triage area and walked over to the bulkhead. After keying in his access code, the panel slid open, revealing several hand phasers. "Dhran, Janovik!" he called out. "Take a phaser and post up this side. Bevan, Lazaro, you two post up on the other side of the Expectant marker." He then tapped his com badge.

McCall to Enark-Aal. We're posting guards out here. Security says we're about to have intruders.

~ Meanwhile, inside Sickbay...

"Prep Operating Room 1" Enark-Aal called out to his chief nurse. "Tell me when it's ready please. And tell Doctor th'Shenris that she will be assisting."

The Denobulan nurse answered with a nod and scurried away to find the Andorian doctor. Meanwhile, Enark-Aal took a moment to scan the room. All of the io beds were occupied by wounded starfleet crew and a few civilians. Most of them had serious injuries, otherwise they'd still be outside in the corridor. He wished that he was helping one of them instead of running the proverbial show but as Chief Medical Officer, and one of the few experienced surgeons on the Courser's medical staff, his job was to direct traffic inside Sickbay and to intervene in patient care only when required. The latter would soon be happening in the case of Ensign Thomas, whose right arm would need to be re-attached after shrapnel from a bulkhead had severed it in the shuttle bay.

As Enark-Aal was making his rounds, his com badge chirped with a message from the triage officer outside.

Understood. Seal the doors with your access code.

As Keer turned to walk back to the Operating Room, the delta chirped again, this time from the bridge.

"œBridge to Medical. We've got crew up here that require medical attention." Willow spoke as clearly as possible. Remaining calm and in control was essential. She assisted anyone who needed help back to their feet or into a chair.

Enark-All tapped his delta again. Bridge this is Enark-Aal. There are intruders closing in on this location. I have sealed the doors to sickbay and cannot send anyone to the bridge at this time. I will dispatch a medical team as soon as I am able. Please standby.

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimi Sugiyama
USS Courser

Kimi breathed in and out impatiently, but Captain Addams was busy in conference with Lonic and the flight officer about possible manoeuvres to detach the alien ship.

Arafe was leaving. Kimi bit her lip, then made a decision. She rushed after the hefty Bolian.

"I will accompany you!" she declared as they passed the security officers at the door. "For... uhhh... security."

She did not stop to explain why she was not carrying a phaser. And in truth, Arafe had the build of a brawler and would be more likely the one to protect the junior science officer.

They progressed through the ship toward Ten Forward, Kimi scampering alongside the bartender.

Kimi listened to the tactical reports coming in over the communicator from the various security squads - and Vetath barking commands. She decided to keep well away from the stern Romulan. But she also noticed something else from the positional updates on the mysterious intruders. She had just spent the entire morning getting re-familiarised with the Courser's decks due to Lonic's list of checks.

"They are not heading for the bridge. They're not trying to take over the ship..." her brow furrowed. "Something else?"

They rounded a corner and came upon the scene of a recent skirmish with the aliens. Kimi noticed the sticky ooze on the floor, and knew from reports that Starfleet crewmen had been here. Now they were missing.

Though Arafe was keen to get back and defend his bar, Kimi knelt down and took a tricorder reading. She quickly discovered the gooey stuff's tranquilising effect and covered her mouth. It was rapidly disintegrating but she managed to get a tiny amount into a stasis field for later analysis.

She stood up and put the pieces together in her mind.

"They are here to take prisoners!"

Then she whirled at the sound of footsteps behind them...

[Ian Galloway]

Kimi Sugiyama
USS Courser

Kimi breathed in and out impatiently, but Captain Addams was deep in conference with Lonic and the flight officer about possible manoeuvres to detach the alien ship.

Arafe was leaving. Kimi bit her lip, then made a decision. She rushed after the Bolian.

"I will accompany you!" she declared as they passed the security officers at the door. "For... uhhh... security."

She did not stop to explain why she was not carrying a phaser.

As they progressed through the ship toward Ten Forward, at some point Arafe may detach on his own way.

Kimi listened to the tactical reports coming in over the communicator from the various security squads - and Vetath issuing commands. She decided to keep well away from the stern Romulan. But she also noticed something else from the positional updates on the mysterious intruders. She had just spent the entire morning getting re-familiarised with the Courser's decks.

"They are not heading for the bridge. They're not trying to take over the ship..." her brow furrowed. "Something else?"

Kimi rounded a corner and came upon the scene of a recent skirmish with the aliens. She noticed the sticky ooze on the floor, and knew from reports that crewmen had been taken from here.

Kimi knelt down and took a tricorder reading. She quickly discovered its tranquilising effect and covered her mouth. It was rapidly disintegrating but she managed to get a tiny amount into a stasis field for later analysis.

She stood up and put it together in her mind.

"They are here to take prisoners!"

Then she whirled at the sound of footsteps behind her...

[Turbolift --> Deck Ten En Route to Ten Forward]

When the slight human female joined him in the turbolift, Arafe raised an eyebrow in surprise, but remained silent and pondered.

"Perhaps she is a master of mok'bara or something, because she otherwise looks as if a stiff wind would knock her over."

As he was focused on defending Ten Forward, he didn't pay the young human much attention as she spoke of the intruder's intentions. Arafe didn't care why, all he cared about was stopping them, reasons could be sorted out later.

When the woman wheeled about, Arafe did as well and prepared for battle. He didn't know any martial arts, but he was a beefy man with lots of experience as a brawler. He knew how to streetfight and he was ready to bring the pain.

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimi Sugiyama
Corridor 12 - amidships - USS Courser

The footsteps came around the corner as Kimi and Arafe whirled. Kimi caught her first sight of two of the aliens and her heart leapt into her mouth...

Humanoid shapes, covered in old, clunky space suits...

They halted, surprised to find Starfleet personnel, having already swept this section. One raised a wide-mouthed weapon of some sort. Kimi remembered the gooey paste and acted.

"Look out!" she gave Arafe a surprisingly fierce shove into the corridor wall one way, bouncing off him and hitting the far wall.

The alien weapon spat and a globule of the paste flew between them down the corridor, to smack into the door at the far end.

There was a momentary stand-off as both sets of beings considered one another. The invaders reloaded. Kimi remembered she did not have a phaser and bit her lip.

She strode toward them and raised her tricorder instead. "Hands up, or I'll scan you!" She tried to load menace into her voice.

The invaders cocked their heads to one side, confused. It bought Kimi and Arafe a precious few moments to close in and try and get past them.

An invader reached out for Kimi. This being now had what looked like a needle injector in one hand. The junior science officer yelped. On instinct she seized the outstretched hand, twisted her hips and floored the invader with a judo throw.

She glanced across to see how Arafe was doing, but then a powerful arm grabbed her legs. The invader had recovered and now tripped her up. She went down with a gasp.

The intruder was bigger and stronger - and heavier! - but also slower, and clumsy with the space suit. Kimi tried to wriggle free as the being hunted around on the floor for the dropped needle device with its other hand.

"Arafe!" she called.

[Xasik]

[USS COURSER - Bridge]

Lieutenant Commander Willow Fletcher

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

Lonic looked up at Commander Willow, yet decided to not nod.
Instead he gave her an approving thumbs up, followed by a hesitant, semi breathless: "œPotentially. Likely even"¦ I can not detect any physical damage except for the hull breach"¦
It seems though that the "˜ship' has moved..."
He squinted at the readings, yet immediately understood"¦
"œIt has latched onto us at starboard. Right at the hull breach"¦ This seems to be the origin of the boarding parties"¦
I am not sure about Constitution Class specifics, but yes, this being a coincidence is unlikely next to impossible."

"œAcknowledged," Willow nodded to Lonic. Now that she knew where the boarding parties were originating from, she could formulate a plan and coordinate her security teams. In situations like these the more information you had, the better your odds were of succeeding, and right now, she needed every advantage she could get to protect the civilians that were depending on her to keep them safe.

The Romulan held back at snort at Lonic's comment on Constitution Class specifics.
"œI will explain the meaning behind my comment to you later Lieutenant." If she survived that was. The life of a security officer was never guaranteed.

"œI can think clearly, I just need some assistance with my disorientation..."
He answered towards the XO's question, yet ultimately was thankful as she called for medical.
He hoped he would be able to stay on the bridge to keep making himself useful, but would ultimately follow expert advice.

"œBetter safe than sorry, Lieutenant," Willow responded as she prepared herself for the confrontation with their uninvited guests.
"œI would rather you all get assessed by medical to ensure you are all fine. If I could I'd have you all report to Sickbay for an examination but that's not an option at present. Hopefully Medical can get someone up here to help. Your stunning, digestive pyrotechnics are cause for concern. Do not push yourself too hard. That goes for everyone here. If you are injured or feeling unwell, do not push yourselves beyond what your bodies are capable of. I appreciate the willingness to do your jobs no matter what, but not at the cost of worsening your health. Am I understood?"

:: USS Courser | Sickbay ::

As Keer turned to walk back to the Operating Room, the delta chirped again, this time from the bridge.

Enark-All tapped his delta again. Bridge this is Enark-Aal. There are intruders closing in on this location. I have sealed the doors to sickbay and cannot send anyone to the bridge at this time. I will dispatch a medical team as soon as I am able. Please standby.

"œUnderstood," Willow responded. "œSit tight, security is on the way."

It was not the response she had been hoping to hear, but at least she had more information of the whereabouts of some of the intruders. She could do something about that!

"œAccording to my readings we are still tied to this position, impulse and warp drive are online though. We might be able to rid ourselves from the attacker's ship on our hull by sealing the affected decks and shaking it off with a sharp curve on low impulse."

"œDo it," The Romulan nodded as she made her way to the turbolift. "œDo what you can to free us from their grip. I'll send two security officers to the bridge to help defend it. Whatever the intentions of our "˜guests', they must not take the Bridge. Be safe." With that, Willow left the bridge to lead her teams to defend the Courser.

Once she had rendezvoused with her security personnel, Willow divided them into teams led by her most experienced officers and sent them to the different affected decks. She hated spreading her forces thin but she had no choice. With so many decks affected she needed eyes and ears everywhere. The teams remained in constant contact via ear pieces connected to a dedicated security channel so they could communicate without their foes being able to hear the chatter.

Willow and the team she was leading made their way to Deck 36. They encountered immediate evidence of their uninvited guests in the form of a sticky, paste-like substance gluing civilians to the walls and floor. There must have been an airborne component to it as well, because as soon as she entered the area, the Romulan had started to feel lightheaded. A quick tap of a button activated a thin mask that covered her mouth and nose and within a few seconds she could feel her mind clearing and becoming more alert. The rest of her team followed suit and activated their breathing apparatus.
"œDo not inhale the fumes near the adhesive stuff. It messes with your head. Activate breathing shields." She ordered over the security channel.

"œAcknowledged," responded several voices through her earpiece. Willow smirked at the immediate response. She bet they were thankful now that she had insisted on them equipping the "˜breathing shields' to their uniforms. In her experience, you could never be too prepared. She knew they had called her paranoid behind her back, well, who's paranoid now?

Advancing forward with no signs of the intruders other than their paste-like substance and the people stuck to it, Willow's team focused on trying to help those they could free and get them to safety. While they did that, Willow pressed on with two members of her team.
With only one functional eye she relied heavily on her hearing to guide her. Hearing voices, Willow pressed forward with caution

USS Courster / Main Engineering â†' Deck 36

Lieutenant Golshani

Looking at the device, the stranger eventually nodded towards the others.
"œThis is a promising one." The stranger's voice could be heard.
"œTake him, and the one over there to the Ijii." The person the stranger pointed at was no other than Jenkins. The reason Shan had come for. Seemingly unconscious and unharmed"¦
Why was he?... Was the last thing he could remember himself thinking before he too lost consciousness again, the voices and impressions stopping to seep into his mind, leaving behind only sleep and silence"¦

Turning a corner, the team was met with the sight of the intruders, humanoid figures clad in old, clunky space suits, and armed. This paled in comparison to what she then noticed. They were discussing someone trapped in gunk, someone she knew.

"œShan!" She called out as she revealed herself and attempted to save her friend. The intruders responded by keeping her back with gunk grenades. She managed to avoid the adhesive but her backup did not. Chakwas was stuck to the wall and Chambers was stuck to the floor. Before she could even think of freeing them the Romulan was stunned with two taser shocks that rendered her body completely unresponsive. Unable to stay upright, the XO crumpled to the floor and right into a pile of adhesive. Unable to move, Willow was helpless as she watched the intruders approaching her and her team. She internally growled as they examined her before puncturing her skin with a device.
"œNot viable," was the only response they gave before moving on to her two companions. She listened in horror as both Chakwas and Chambers were both deemed promising and dragged from their adhesive confinements.
"œNo!" Willow gasped through the haze of her mind as she watched her security officers being taken away with Shan.
"œQezhtihn!" She shouted as one of the intruders looked back at her. "œLa-hok yuun uzor nek varet viyuun! Fight me like you have some shred of honour! I won't allow you to get away with this!"

The figure merely turned away from her and followed their companions as they took their captives away. Willow, weak from being stunned and now from the adhesive gunk as well, could do nothing but watch.

What happened near engineering could be observed across all of the affected decks: People being immobilised by what could best be described as chemical adhesive grenades, before the intruders would come and assess them, carefully picking out specific targets to take them aboard their ship.
It was fast, ruthless and very effective...
No unnecessary violence, no unnecessary damage; just taking what they need, yet not being afraid to fight their way though if need arose"¦

After no less than seven minutes the intruders began to retreat, with their last wave of abductees in tow.
Slowly but surely they would make where they could, and fight where they had to, their way back onto their ship, and eventually - as fast as they had appeared - detach without further communication; leaving the Courser behind to remain stuck, with 121 less people aboard...

The attack was over quicker than she had expected. It was only a matter of minutes that they had come, captured and departed. It was a while still before the rest of Willow's team found her and pulled her from her confinement. Her body was still weak and her head was spinning but the Chief of Security was still able to stand on her own after only a few minutes of being free.

"œSharah aroostos!" She howled in rage as she punched the wall beside her in her fury. The whole attack had been so well planned that they hadn't stood a chance. Their adhesive grenades had been very effective and whatever numbing agent had been mixed into them was now affecting those who had been stuck. To be honest, Willow felt a little high, but it did nothing to mellow out her anger. She had failed to protect those under her care. They had saved a great number of people, but they had also lost many to the intruders and that was unacceptable!

Once she was steady enough on her feet, the Romulan decided to make her way back to the Bridge. She ordered security to assist where they could and report to her if anything needed her attention. In the meantime she would go back to the Bridge to help coordinate recovery efforts. She was going to find every single soul that had been taken and get them back. She was determined to find a way to get them all back.

"œDon't worry Shan, I'll find you and everyone else that was taken. I swear on our friendship." She spoke to herself as she stepped into the turbo lift and made her way to the Bridge.

As the door opened and she stepped out, the Romulan looked around the bridge to assess the situation. It was much the same as she had left it except Kimiko was missing.
"œWhere is Sugiyama?" Willow questioned as Alenko and Williams saluted her.

"œShe escorted Arafe out of the Bridge after you left," Alenko reported. Willow nodded and dismissed both he and Williams. "œAcknowledged," Willow nodded. "œReport to Shepard and assist where you are needed. There's going to be a lot of stuck and confused civilians down there that will need help."

"œYes Lieutenant Commander," both security officers saluted and left the bridge. Willow waited for the door to close before she started pacing in anger. She had specifically ordered Kimiko to remain on the bridge and she had deliberately disobeyed the order. That was not acceptable. Her stomach rumbled as she paced. Great, now she had the munchies from whatever numbing agent was used in the gunk.

"œI want options. Our people were taken and I intend to get them back."

--------------

[USS Courser - Bridge]

Lieutenant Alenko

Kimi Sugiyama
USS Courser

Arafe was leaving. Kimi bit her lip, then made a decision. She rushed after the hefty Bolian.

"I will accompany you!" she declared as they passed the security officers at the door. "For... uhhh... security."

She did not stop to explain why she was not carrying a phaser.

Both security officers saluted Kimiko as she left. They had not heard Lieutenant Commander Fletcher order her to stay and so it made sense to them to have a civilian escorted to somewhere safe. Too late did Alenko notice that Sugiyama was not armed. He looked at Williams who simply shrugged at him. He felt the pit of his stomach drop. Oh, Willow would probably not be amused when she returned.

Alenko did his duty dutifully and defended the Bridge, although there was nothing much for them to do as the intruders did not approach the Bridge at all. When Lieutenant Commander Fletcher returned he saluted her and when she asked, he informed her that Sugiyama had left. He could see her eye twitch in anger and he braced himself for the worse, but was surprised when Willow simply acknowledged him and dismissed them from the bridge. Oh, that was worse. She was seething, the kind of furious that made her go silent as she considered her options and how to respond. He felt sorry for Kimiko but there was nothing he could do for her.
He and Williams reported to Sherpard on deck 34 and began helping those who needed them.

[Ian Galloway]

Kimi Sugiyama
Corridor 12 - amidships - USS Courser

The footsteps came around the corner as Kimi and Arafe whirled. Kimi caught her first sight of two of the aliens and her heart leapt into her mouth...

Humanoid shapes, covered in old, clunky space suits...

They halted, surprised to find Starfleet personnel, having already swept this section. One raised a wide-mouthed weapon of some sort. Kimi remembered the gooey paste and acted.

"Look out!" she gave Arafe a surprisingly fierce shove into the corridor wall one way, bouncing off him and hitting the far wall.

The alien weapon spat and a globule of the paste flew between them down the corridor, to smack into the door at the far end.

There was a momentary stand-off as both sets of beings considered one another. The invaders reloaded. Kimi remembered she did not have a phaser and bit her lip.

She strode toward them and raised her tricorder instead. "Hands up, or I'll scan you!" She tried to load menace into her voice.

The invaders cocked their heads to one side, confused. It bought Kimi and Arafe a precious few moments to close in and try and get past them.

An invader reached out for Kimi. This being now had what looked like a needle injector in one hand. The junior science officer yelped. On instinct she seized the outstretched hand, twisted her hips and threw the invader in a classic judo hip-toss.

She glanced across to see how Arafe was doing, but then a powerful arm grabbed her legs. The invader had recovered and now tripped her up. She went down with a gasp.

The intruder was bigger and stronger - and heavier! - but also slower, and clumsy with the space suit. Kimi tried to wriggle free as the being hunted around on the floor for the dropped needle device with its other hand.

"Arafe!" she called.

[Corridor 12 - Amidships - USS Courser]

Arafe had to admit he was surprised to see the little wisp of a woman shove him bodily out of the way and engage one of the boarders.

"More to her than meets the eye!"

He thought as he lowered his head and spread his arms as he charged the second man. By spreading his arms, the boarder didn't have room to evade, especially in the EVA suit he was wearing to slow him down. Arafe drove his shoulder into the man's gut with his full 210 kilos behind his charge and into the bulkhead. The man grunted heavily and doubled over, but as he had on a helmet, Arafe grabbed the hoses on the back and yanked them free with his left hand while chopping downward with his right to knock the weapon out the man's hand.

The man tried to throw a right, but Arafe blocked the attack by striking the outside of the man's arm with his own right arm in a rightward motion, this twisted the man to his own left, which presented his back to the Bolian, who grabbed the boarder's shoulders and slammed his head against the bulkhead and Arafe kept slamming his head against the bulkhead until his face mask shattered and he crumpled to the deck. Once he was down, just to make sure he stayed that way, in a classic bar brawl move, Arafe kicked him in the naughty bits and turned to help Kimi.

Just as the man's hand closed on the injector he was reaching for, Arafe's foot stomped down on it and even through the gloves, you could hear bones breaking and the man's screams. Now in a full lather, Arafe was about to break some more bones when the man simply folded up and dropped to the deck. Seems whatever was in the injector entered his bloodstream from his broken hand and put him to sleep faster than Arafe could. Breathing a bit hard, Arafe was not a young man and his serious brawling days were long behind him, he was still able to reach out as gracefully as a courtier to offer a hand to Kimi.

"M'Lady."

[Kimiko Sugiyama]

Kimi Sugiyama
[Corridor 12 - Amidships - USS Courser]

Kimi struggled in the grip of the invader while at the same time hearing the physical might of Arafe overwhelming his adversary.

"Nnngh, stop!" she called as she writhed. She really hoped the Bolian would not kill them.

Her own problems were mounting, and she feared the injector device would be puncturing her own skin any moment, when her attacker went limp. She looked again and saw that Arafe had beaten his man, and also stamped on her captor's hand.

"M'Lady."

Kimi gladly accepted the offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet again. She looked at Arafe's handiwork and the two downed invaders.

"Wow," she said between recovering breaths. "That was... amazing."

She knew the hefty Bolian could probably defend himself, but had never seen so physical a display from him. He was always the life of the party, the jovial host, and she had occasionally been the subject of his practical jokes. But right now, she could have hugged him.

"You got one alive!"

[Don Damien Addams]

[USS Courser]

The Captain of his ship was angry at himself. The reason why he was mad himself because he had failed the crew and the civilians. It could be a over kill that he was blaming himself because they were attacked by a fake call.

The surprise attack had him fall off his own seat and bumped his head which gave him a cut to his forehead. He had shoved his own need as he got back on his chair. He was busy reading reports from all stations and he had missed Arafe had left, and of course Lieutenant Kimiko used that opportunity to leave after Number One bad left the bridge.

They need to break away from their assault. He wiped his forehead where it was wet from blood. They had lost great amount of civilians and crew members. The attackers took people for kidnapping.

Then Don had stood up and felt the room spinning. He had to fight for his crew. "œHow deep is the assault ships in the hull?" he asked.

"œTen meters, sir," the second operator replied.

"œDo sensors read any other ships by us?" he asked. "œWe are not going to let them get away, got my promise!"

Don had waited to see what other bridge crew members had to say. As he was waiting he called Engineering.

Engineering report...

He had wanted to see if they got communication with Engineering. After all they are the spine of the Curser

[Ian Galloway]

Kimi Sugiyama
[Corridor 12 - Amidships - USS Courser]

Kimi struggled in the grip of the invader while at the same time hearing the physical might of Arafe overwhelming his adversary.

"Nnngh, stop!" she called as she writhed. She really hoped the Bolian would not kill them.

Her own problems were mounting, and she feared the injector device would be puncturing her own skin any moment, when her attacker went limp. She looked again and saw that Arafe had beaten his man, and also stamped on her captor's hand.

Kimi gladly accepted the offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet again. She looked at Arafe's handiwork and the two downed invaders.

"Wow," she said between recovering breaths. "That was... amazing."

She knew the hefty Bolian could probably defend himself, but had never seen so physical a display from him. He was always the life of the party, the jovial host, and she had occasionally been the subject of his practical jokes. But right now, she could have hugged him.

"You got one alive!"

[Corridor 12 - Amidships - USS Courser]

Arafe smiled in genuine pleasure at Kimi's compliment as he helped her to her feet. He looked at the two fallen men and shrugged.

"When you run a bar, you have to learn how to handle troublemakers and I've run a lot of bars for a lot of years. Besides, nothing in the galaxy makes me madder than slavers. Anyway, they both should be alive, but that depends on what was in that injector. If it was lethal, then that's just the cosmos restoring balance for his own actions, but everything we've seen so far implies their weapons are for subdual.

"I don't know what you want to do next or really why you even followed me, I was just going to check on Ten Forward. However, regardless of what you have planned, we should report to security that we have a couple prisoners for them to interrogate."

[Sirol]

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

Lonic squinted as he could hear the Doctor's message being relayed by the security chief's communicator.
Not the sort of news he had been hoping for, but in an emergency situation, no one had the chance to be picky.
He leaned onto his terminal and hoped that sickbay would be able to dispatch someone soon, but until then, the more prominent question was that of how the intruders managed to make their way so fast. He barely registered any phaser fire aboard, indicating a one-sided attempt here. He could not even pinpoint whether the intruders were armed to begin with. The only thing he could gather were humanoid life signs in what seemed to be some redundant armour"¦.

"I will accompany you!" she declared as they passed the security officers at the door. "For... uhhh... security."

She did not stop to explain why she was not carrying a phaser. And in truth, Arafe had the build of a brawler and would be more likely the one to protect the junior science officer.

Lonic internally sighed.
Her enthusiastic nature was predictable; she was willing to help, and Lonic respected that.
But he could"¦ Would"¦ Have needed the input of an actual scientist to decipher what was happening to the ship.
With a quiet exhale he tapped his comm badge.
"œLonic to Ensign T'Soni, please report to the bridge as soon as you can."
"œUnderstood. I am on my way, Lieutenant."

It felt like long minutes of waiting time and uncomfortable silence.
With both Commander Willow and Lieutenant Sugiyama gone, Lonic had little input to bounce back the situation.
The Captain appeared injured, supposedly requiring medical assistance just as much as Lonic did.
Lonic lowered the light a little so as to not put a strain on the injured skipper's head, before he then hunched over his console again.
Once Ensign T'Soni arrived, Lonic briefed her on the situation, hoping that she would be equally intuitive and fast with her conclusions and analysis as Sugiyama had been.

_______________________________________

USS Courser / Amidships / Corridor 12

Far away from the tranquillity of the bridge, Retrieval Squad 4 was about to retreat back to the Ijii, yet were intercepted by two of the locals, with surprising efficiency, speed and brute force:

The one Kivaa tried to grab for a scan instantly flung him over her shoulder with some sort of move utilising momentum and his own body weight.
Like old stories of Dathuu-monks easily defeating a grown mountain Beroi"¦
Forcing himself back to his legs he waddled towards the stranger, down to attempt a second try as - all of a sudden a second one attacked.
A true alien, easily taking him down with speed and brute force.
He tried to free himself; get rid of the other, yet the next thing he registered was his head hitting a solid surface and him slowly beginning to fade out in a state of absolute panic and terror: The visor of his helmet!
What had hit his head had also hit the protective bubble encasing his face!
The bloody space monster had broken his visor!
Who could tell what odd sort of mutated space version of the curse could crawl into his metabolism so far out here, and he had no means of protection; no means of keeping it far away"¦
He would breathe in some potentially deadly alien version of the curse"¦

"œFUCK YOU!!!"
He yelled in a mix of anger and absolute panic as he began to sink onto the ground, followed by vague impressions of the space monster kicking him into his baby reservoir...

From a safe distance the medic of Retrieval Squad 4 had taken cover and frantically activated her handheld, clunky communication device.
"œGanjiu to Ijii, Code I, Lieutenant Kivaa has fallen victim to the aliens. They popped his helmet. He might be contaminated; awaiting orders"¦"
"œIjii here, proceed without him, the gathering has pecidency. Success!"
She quietly nodded, then gave her commander a last look before she scampered off, taking an alternate route back to the Ijii.

_______________________________________

USS Courser / Bridge

Lieutenant Lonic

As the Commander eventually returned, Lonic looked up to her and slowly nodded.
"œBoarding party is retreating; they are preparing their ship to leave.
Detaching from the Courser in 4"¦ 3"¦ 2"¦ 1..."

"œI want options. Our people were taken and I intend to get them back."

Lonic internally frowned at the many unknowns of their current situation, yet looked at the Commander and answered calmly as usual.
"œWe need to find what is keeping us in position before we lose track of the intruders' ship. Which"¦ Might be the case exceptionally fast in this sector's environmental conditions"¦
The Courser is perfectly capable of both, impulse and warp"¦ So there has to be some sort of external force keeping us here, and we need to find and identify it. A force field perhaps? Some sort of physical barrier? Nothing seems to register, but I beg to differ..."

Don had waited to see what other bridge crew members had to say. As he was waiting he called Engineering.

Engineering report...

He had wanted to see if they got communication with Engineering. After all they are the spine of the Curser

After a second of delay the voice of C8 Red could be heard over the communicator. In the background, multiple voices and noises from the rest of the engineering staff, as well as other people, safely kept in the locked area could be heard mumbling.
"œC8 Red here, Captain. We are currently in lockdown. We had an intruder alert a few minutes ago. The attackers tried to get in here, but we could hold them back"¦  Then they"¦ Began to leave"¦ They might regroup or have picked a different target elsewhere. We're maintaining the lockdown until we have word from Golshani or you to lift it."
"œThe intruders have left..." sh'Sael's voice could be heard alongside C8. "œMy readings show they have boarded their ship. All but one"¦ Near the ten forward..."
"œCowards..."
Lonic looked up from his readings and towards the Captain and the XO.
"œThat is"¦ Correct"¦ And potentially useful"¦ They have left one of their crewmembers behind..."

T'Soni raised one of her painted-on eyebrows.
"œMaybe an interrogation might help us understand their motives"¦ And the Location of our missing crew members..."