Messages

In addition to the awards for your posting excellence, I wish to announce the following promotions.

Lieutenant jg Neva Cordon

Lieutenant jg Aarwendil Cheizex

Petty Officer Third Class Abas Th'vyrrol

Thank you all for making Challenger such an amazing place to SIMM.

EXCELSIOR!

[Welcome to the official awards ceremony for the USS Challenger-January 2024!]

Welcome to the official awards ceremony for the USS Challenger-
January 2024!

Over the next few days your Command Team will be posting Awards to officially recognize the effort and achievement of those who posted on the ship and performed extra duties in order to aid and advance the running of the simm between July 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023.

We will do this in three categories:  Time in Service Awards,  Posting Ability Awards, and Contribution Awards.

Before I begin announcing the Time In Service awards, I would like to thank each and every one of you for the continued time and dedication you put in.  The site could not exist without you, the players.  Thank you.

Time In Service Ribbons

Academy Training Course Ribbon

Ensign Neva Cordon
Ensign Aarwendil Cheizex
Ensign Tora Zalos
Ensign Jalen Kartos

6 Month Service Ribbon

Ensign Neva Cordon

We thank you for your service!
Congratulations to all!

And now its time to get into the awards for the different categories.  Please give a congrats to the following:

Posting Ability

Posting Excellence Award

This award goes to a player who has demonstrated consistent high quality posting skills.

Lieutenant Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas

Descriptive Combat Award

Awarded to those who demonstrate an ability to convey the action of combat.

Lieutenant Commander Kyan Mackenzie

Technical Precision Award

Awarded to those who demonstrate great knowledge of their profession.

Ensign Neva Cordon

Best Newcomer Award

Awarded to the new arrival who displays the most effort and ability.

Lieutenant jg Taja Grippen

Most Engaging Member Award

Awarded to the player who writes the most emotionally engaging, scene-setting posts.

Ensign Jalen Kartos

Best Duo Award

Awarded to the two players who have shown the highest levels of cooperation.

Crewman Abas Th'vyrrol and Chief Petty Officer ShranLahr ch'Verret

Rib Tickler Award

Awarded to the player with the most humorous posts.

Lieutenant Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas

Crew Choice Award

This is the award voted on by you, the crew of the Discovery.

Lieutenant Commander Kyan Mackenzie and
Lieutenant Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas

Contribution Awards - January 2024

Vaughan Outstanding Contribution Award

Awarded to players who make outstanding continued contributions outside of missions.
These could include assisting the commanding officer with important tasks or temporarily taking on command officer responsibilities.
The Contribution Award must be earned before this award.

Nira was instrumental in the launch of the Solaere SIMM, logging many hours creating deck layout and background information. As first officer of Challenger, Nira was creative and heavily engaged in mission planning and execution, I know it would have been a heavy burden if I couldn't count on Nira's support and assistance.

Commander Nira Said

Executive Officer's Personal Merit Award

Awarded by the executive officer to a player of their SIMM.

Ensign Tora Zalos

Captains's Personal Merit Award

Awarded by the commanding officer to a player of their SIMM.

Commander Nira Said

Congratulations once more to one and all!
Excelsior!!

["More than 35% of junior ranks, 65% of senior officers dead. Starfleet sustained higher losses durin' the Dominion War, but that was over two years. This happened in a day! Maker, the institutional knowledge lost will take bloody decades ta relearn. The most terrifyin' part is that Starfleet is down ta nae more than 20% capacity. If'n word gets out, the Orions, Breen, and Tzenkethi will run riot on Federation shippin'."]

[Captain's Ready Room - USS Challenger]

Ian sat quietly at his desk and tried to come to grips with the 'eyes-only' report he'd received from Starfleet Command, or what was left of Starfleet Command. At first, when word that communications with Starfleet had been restored, he was glad as when contact was lost, it felt like Challenger was the last ship in the fleet. Then the news of what had happened had come in and the reality of how bad the Frontier Day fiasco had been set in. He read the report again and it was all he could do not to weep.

"More than 35% of junior ranks, 65% of senior officers dead. Starfleet sustained higher losses durin' the Dominion War, but that was over two years. This happened in a day! Maker, the institutional knowledge lost will take bloody decades ta relearn. The most terrifyin' part is that Starfleet is down ta nae more than 20% capacity. If'n word gets out, the Orions, Breen, and Tzenkethi will run riot on Federation shippin'."

Ian stood and paced his office because he was so amped up he couldn't just sit anymore. He took a deep breath and said.

"Computer open Captain's Log."

"Acknowledged."

"Captain's Log...supplemental. Today Frontier Day goes from bein' a celebration ta a day of mournin'. A twisted alliance of Changlin's and Borg have managed ta inflict the greatest single day loss in Starfleet history. If'n anything positive can be said of this event is the utter destruction of the Borg as a species. I cannae rejoice at genocide, but you'll nae see me shed a tear that the Borg no longer exist. As for the Changlin's, they may also finally be purged from the Alpha Quadrant. We'll have ta keep vigilant as I doubt the slippery gits are done meddlin' with the Federation.

"On a positive note, despite the utter darkness of the day and the utterly unwanted reappearance of yet another faceless enemy, a Doomsday Machine, I can report the Challenger has once again prevailed against the odds. Thanks ta the unmitigated heroism of Commander Nira Said, Lieutenant Hector Espada, Ensign Neva Cordon, Ensign Aarwendil Cheizex,  Ensign Jamil-Bral Avant, and Ensign Tora Zalos, the Doomsday Machine was completely destroyed when the self-destruct sequence was triggered. Angdarr and the Romulan Free State are safe and we didn't have ta fight a squadron of warbirds.

"I must also commend the entire Medical department of the Challenger for their superlative actions when the overloaded transport SS Guppy malfunctioned requirin' the rescue of thousands and treatment of hundreds of casualties. As part of those actions, Crewman Abas Th'vyrrol is meritoriously promoted ta Petty Officer Third Class on the recommendation of the Chief Medical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Jessica Fellows.

"Further commendations will be placed in the records of Lieutenant Commander Kyan MacKenzie for rescuin' over a dozen children when a plasma conduit burst in the ship's kindergarten; and for Lieutenant Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas and Crewman Zala for subduin' an attempted robbery in the sickbay.

"As with most days in Starfleet, there are good moments and bad ones. Given Challenger suffered no losses from the Borg/Changlin' plot, we are fully operational. However, as one of only a small portion of the fleet that can say that, we will have ta increase our patrollin' duties until Command can put together enough pieces ta supplement the few ships unaffected by Frontier Day. One thing I have implemented immediately was, on the receipt of how ta do so, I've run every member of the crew, myself included, through the transporter twice ta purge all trace of the assimilation code the bloody wankers inserted into the fleet. I am happy ta report, no Changelin's were found among the crew of the Challenger. Another perk of havin' one of the oldest ships in the fleet, we weren't considered important enough ta infiltrate. End Log."

Hello Everyone,

We had a lot of awesome posts in the Doomsday Like Any Other mission and one of the things the Fleet likes to do is recognize excellence. There are three posts that stood out and now it's up to you as to which one you think is the best, please vote so your peers can be recognized.

-Reply #174 - Kyan

-Reply#208 - Neva

-Reply 223 - Zhuk

[in]

[Commander Nira Said | Airlock | Doomsday Weapon >- Cold Space]

Nira thought she had known pain after being tortured by Gul Sherem. The cold of space was a lot worse, but she had no choice. She kept her eyes closed when they blew out of the airlock. After a few seconds passed, not hearing the familiar transporter beams, she dared opened her eyes...and wished she hadn't.

Her exposed skin was frosted over, but she dared look around for Espada.

Hector? Dammit, Hector, where are you? she thought desperately. She took a look back at the away team, realized what she had done to them all. She was still looking at them when she lost conciousness, her last thought being: Allah...What have I done...

[{NPC} Emergency Medical Hologram Mark XII | Sickbay | Deck Seven | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Please state the nature of the medical emerge...oh my GOD, what now?"

Given the overall excitement in Sickbay recently, and losing Nurse Davies until she can recover, it made sense for the EMH to be activated to help in treating the away team. He scowled as he looked down on them. A Mark One wouldn't be surprised to see what was ailing them.

"What were they doing, trying to spacejump back to Andgarr from an adjacent planet?" he muttered. "Why didn't they have EVA suits? Ah, never mind, get some oxygen pumped in, their rebreathers are depleted."

He looked up and noticed Captain Galloway had taken a seat and was waiting for them. He raised an eyebrow and said, "Ah, Captain. I'll see what I can do about Commander Said..."

"You better."

The EMH looked up and noticed Lieutenant Savar had just come in after the Captain, looking shocked. No surprise, the V'tosh Ka'tur was close to Nira. He hovered behind the Captain looking in worry at Nira.

"Lieutenant, if you cannot control yourself, speaking as a medical officer, regardless of what status a hologram like me holds, I will have to ask you to leave."

Savar looked between him and the Captain and understanding dawned on him. "I apologize...and I apologize for leaving my post...Nira...like this..."

He left the sentence hanging as he left Sickbay to get back to the bridge. The EMH then returned to focus on his work.

[Commander Nira Said | Sickbay | Deck Seven | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

The telepathic cry for help from Neva was what woke her. Or rather, stirred her from unconsciousness.

A light. Nira wondered if she was heading to heaven to be with Allah...or was it Krystaros, the highest worshipped Betazoid deity? It turned out, it was neither the heaven of Islam nor Betazed. She was in Sickbay, now that the light came into focus, her eyes barely open.

Then a man stood over her...she knew his nickname, at least, given he technically didn't have a name.

"Oh, good, Commander, you're awake," the EMH Mark XII said. "Try not to move much, you were almost an asphyxiated popsicle. That includes your mouth, at any rate."

Nira can see why, looking down and realizing there was an air pump in her mouth. Slowly but surely, she was getting air back in.

She looked around with her eyes, first looking for the team. She could see Neva being treated.

Neva...don't worry. We're alive. Thank Allah, we're alive!

Then she noticed Captain Galloway, and he was obviously waiting.

"Ah, yes, Captain Galloway hasn't left your side, Commander," said the EMH. "I hope he recognizes it'll be a while before you can communi...what are you...?"

Ensuring her hand at the side of her visible to the Captain was showing as much as possible, Nira began tapping a finger, making a quiet tapping.

"What's this, some kind of involuntary nerve response in your hand...?" But the EMH looked hard and realized there was a pattern in Nira's tapping. "Or perhaps...not involuntary...I think, according to my database, it's a common form of Morse Code."

It was, indeed, Morse Code, something Nira had studied at the Academy as an alternative form of communication, recognizing there can be situations where her telepathy won't be affective. She was now tapping repeatedly to get Captain Galloway's attention:

-.-. .- -. / -.-- --- ..- / .- -.-. -.- -. --- .-- .-.. . -.. --. . ..--..

("Can you acknowledge?")

The moment she got the Captain's attention, and responded, she tapped a new message:

- .... . .-. . / .. ... / ... --- / -- ..- -.-. .... / .. / .-- .- -. - / - --- / - . .-.. .-.. / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- / -... ..- - / .. - / .. ... / -. --- - / . .- ... -.-- / .-.. .. -.- . / - .... .. ... .-.-.- / .. / .-- .- -. - / - --- / ... .... --- .-- / -.-- --- ..- / .. -. ... - . .- -.. .-.-.- / .--. . .-. -- .. ... ... .. --- -. / - --- / -.-. --- -- -- ..- -. .. -.-. .- - . / .-- .. - .... / - . .-.. . .--. .- - .... -.-- ..--..

("There is so much I want to tell you. But it is not easy like this. I want to show you instead. Permission to communicate with telepathy?")

As much as she wanted to give her report, Morse Code didn't seem useful if, in being treated, she cannot move much. She had to admit, she hadn't asked permission to communicate telepathically for a long time; she stopped trying to ask that, given she was always denied thus. As much as she was expecting to be denied, nonetheless, she wanted to show Captain Galloway what she and the team had seen, and what had happened.

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

Ian nodded to the EMH, giving him a grim smile. He knew that the medical staff was top notch and that 25th Century medicine was nothing short of magic. As the away team had made it to sickbay, he had complete confidence they would all survive.

His eyes widened when he saw Nira communicating in Morse. He could but marvel at her dedication. He tapped back.

.-. . .--. --- .-. - / -.-. .- -. / -... .-.. --- --- -.. -.-- / .-- .- .. - .-.-.- / .... . .- .-.. / ..-. .. .-. ... - .-.-.- / - .- .-.. -.- / .-.. .- - . .-. .-.-.-

(Report can bloody wait. Heal first. Talk later.)

[[Lt. Commmander Kyan Mackenzie | Sickbay > Bridge, USS Challenger]]

[Commander Nira Said | Central Computer Core >- Bridge >- Corridors >- Airlock | Doomsday Weapon]

What Neva came up with, Nira was not expecting. The alarms certainly indicated something was wrong, along with Neva's reaction, but what that wrong thing was, Neva mentioned a moment later what it was, and it made Nira widen her eyes in shock.

"Shit!" she shouted in shock. "See what you can do; otherwise, we better get the hell back to the hangar!"

When Neva's attempts failed, Nira shouted, "Never mind! Run!"

Nira was certain that running in the gravity field of the Machine made the team use up more of their oxygen backups in their rebreathers, and running with the gravity they have, again, it was how it felt for a heavy eater to run. Only the rebreathers kept them from running out of breath. Even with retracing the route in her mind, Nira was worried they wouldn't get back in time.

As they ran, she began noticing new doors...or rather, doors they hadn't noticed on their way from the hangar, all glowing purple, same as the warning lights. Upon reaching a third such door, Nira said, "Hold it! Let's try this, maybe it'll be a shortcut."

She got to it, it opened for her, and inside was an airlock.

"Of all times we could've had EVA suits," Nira muttered....they definitely weren't going to make it back to the hangar in time. She realized she forgot to call Espada in her shock. Her mind was racing. Without suits, but with rebreathers, there was a chance. They'd probably last longer than they would without them, breath-wise, but it all hinged on Espada beaming them out anyway...

"Said to Mjolnir!" she said, tapping her comm badge. "Mister Espada! Hector, are you there? If you can hear us, beam us aboard the Mjolnir. If you can get away from the hangar, beam us aboard the Mjolnir anyway. Otherwise...well, we're at an airlock, see if you can find one...but in any case, get a lock on our comm badges. You'll have a matter of seconds."

She looked at Neva and said, "Get to the airlock controls and see if you can get them open, Neva. Everybody else, when Neva is ready, keep your breath in as long as you can."

It was a huge risk, but it was the fastest option, and they were out of time. She began making a silent prayer to Allah. She prayed for Neva and for Hector that he heard them and can get to the transporter controls in time. Nonetheless, she was confident it would work. They wouldn't be long. It's happened in the past, like less than a century and a half ago, when Jonathan Archer had to be blown out of space to escape hostiles; at least the NX-01 was close by. She prayed to Allah that Hector would get out in time and get them.

[Inside --> Outside Doomsday Machine - Angdarr System]

As the away team was swept out into the void of space, they were struck, which was the proper way to describe the impact of the cold on their bodies when it completely enveloped them. It was a cold so profound that it defied classification. On top of the bone crushing cold, each person knew they had roughly 30 seconds of useful consciousness before they asphyxiated. As hope and the light in their eyes dimmed, each saw what they perceived as the fabled light that supposedly led to the afterlife. While it was a given that being in Starfleet was a dangerous profession, it never occurred to Nira, Neva, Tora, Jamil, or Dil that their lives would end in the emptiness of space.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Lt. Commmander Kyan Mackenzie | Sickbay > Bridge, USS Challenger]

Kyan laughed as the kindergarteners set upon him. The onslaught of questions from the gang of five-year-olds was almost enough to make him forget that he'd been stunned by a phaser and not a disruptor, which was a conversation he'd be having with someone later. For now, he did his best to answer all their questions and took a few minutes to enjoy the fun while he could. Now that this situation appeared to be at its end, there was still a planet-eating ice cream cone out there someplace.

"Well this lots don't seem no worse for wear." he called up to Jalen when he spied him standing in the door. "Sure and ye been getting em good and spun up with yer jumja suckers this whole time in there!"

Eventually the Onlie had to extricate himself from the mob and get back to work, although he'd much rather have rather stayed and helped Jalen corral the little kids.

~Later, on the bridge

Since Zhuk was more than capable of handling tactical, Kyan deposited himself in Nira's empty chair beside Galloway. He brought up the tactical display and looked it over. It looked pretty dire. Seven Romulan warships in a fan formation. "Ye know... Its just about tired of Romulans I am, the sneaky wankers." Kyan offered to no one in particular. "An Orions too... and I'm never coming back tae this planet again!"

Then he looked over at Galloway. "Is the Romulan the same one we seen on the planet? The part time commander?"

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian was keeping an eye on the count down timer of the hour they'd been given drop below five minutes and he felt helpless as he had no more ideas on how to save his ship than when the timer started. Thus when Kyan spoke, it was a relief.

"Avolus? He's out there, but nae the one in charge. It's that ancient wanker Tal that's in command here. Avolus struck me as a reasonable sort, we would have been able ta negotiate with him. There is file on this Tal. Seems he was the second in command on the Romulan V-11 class battlecruiser when Kirk stole that cloaking device. Tal took a lot of heat for lettin' the Enterprise escape with both the cloak and the squadron commander. I guess he's got a grudge..."

At this moment Randall at the science station spoke up.

"Sir, forgive the interruption, but something is happening on the Machine. Power output has tripled! If it keeps increasing I don't see how it doesn't destroy itself!"

"Bloody hell! Helm take us ta 100,000 kilometers. Fernando, warn the Romulans, maybe that will buy us some good will. Any sign of the away team Evan?"

"The Machine's dampening field has increased as the power has, there's too much interference to get any readings."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Shuttle Mjolnir - Angdarr System]

Nira's eyes opened and she immediately wished they hadn't. She was colder than she thought was possible and could see that her exposed skin was discolored, likely by frostbite. She maintained consciousness long enough to see the rest of the away team was present before she gave into the unconsciousness.

Lieutenant Hector Espada was unable to help the away team at the moment. He'd picked up their combadges outside the hull of the Doomsday Machine almost immediately because he was scanning for their signals intently at the time. He had just enough time to beam them aboard before going to warp for a quarter of a second. He didn't want to be anywhere near the Machine as he'd also detected the buildup of power and as strong and powerful as a Delta-Flyer might be, it was no match for the blast that a power plant as big as the one on the Machine would generate if it exploded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The ship's viewscreen held Ian's full attention as Randall continued to report the power increase and that overload had to be coming soon.

"Ops, increase shieldin' and structural integrity by fifty percent."

"Aye Sir."

Seconds after Catalan completed reinforcing the Challenger's defenses, the Machine exploded. Which, while the correct word, it failed to fully describe the power of the detonation utterly. The flash was so bright, the viewscreen had to shut down to prevent being overloaded. Thus, it was several seconds before the crew of the Challenger could see what had happened.

The Machine was gone, the explosion had been so violent that it managed to shatter the neutronium hull into thousands of fragments. Up until this point it wasn't believed that anything could destroy neutronium and it spoke to the thunderous power the Machine held.

In a voice barely above a whisper, Ian asked.

"The away team?"

"Just a minute Sir, local space is heavily disrupted... wait... wait... I have the Mjolnir! She's asking for medical assistance!"

"Sweet Merciful Maker! Beam them directly ta sickbay. Kyan, you have the bridge!"

Ian said as he all but vaulted out the command chair and raced for the turbolift. The trip to sickbay felt monumentally slow, but soon the doors opened and he rushed into medical, his heart pounding at what he might find. There he found Nira, Neva, Dil, Jamil, and Tora all on biobeds being tended to by a phalanx of doctors and nurses. As much as he wanted answers, he knew he was the intruder here and after a quick glance at the bio-readings that said the five patients were alive, he found a seat and waited for someone to brief him when they had answers.

[Ensign Neva Cordon|Planet Killer|Control Room]

Neva looked up at the Commander's order and nodded. She put her Tricorder away and went to what looked like a control display. She rubbed her chin a moment, then started typing on the controls.

Suddenly, a whooping klaxon broke the silence. On the main screen, glyphs showed up. They were changing by the second...

Neva jumped back as if shocked, eyes wide. "Aw HELLS naw!" She growled out. "Not on MY watch!" She furiously tapped on the controls, trying to undo what she'd somehow set off.

"Sorry Commander. I set off the self-destruct." She spoke with annoyance. "We may need to see about finding a way out. Damn my luck!"

Neva kept working, looking up now and again to check the main screen. At one point, she bounced over to a wall, palms skating along as she walked. Shaking her head quickly, she went back to the controls she'd been using.

"Commander, you really should GO now." She spoke tightly. "This isn't working!" She intoned.

[Inside the Doomsday Machine - Angdarr System]

It was immediately obvious that something very wrong was taking place throughout the Machine as the lighting shifted to a lurid, flashing purple shade and a raucous, atonal wail sounded. The alarms were more than enough to motivate the away team to abandon the Machine. However, they faced a nearly impossible task. They'd traveled more than half a kilometer as well as up a ladder to reach the control room and in 1.4G, trying to run back to the hanger was beyond daunting. Regardless of the unlikelihood of them being able to escape, they had no choice, they had to try.

In the cavernous hanger, Espada could see and hear the alarm too. As he was also trapped unless he could figure out how to get the massive doors to open, he took a chance. He ran back to the probe and pushed the three buttons on it before he beamed the probe off of the Mjolnir. He breathed a sigh of relief as the probe began to send the coded message it had been sending before they entered the Machine and slowly, ever so slowly, the huge doors swung open. Facing a massive pang of guilt, Espada exited the Machine, but stayed within a kilometer of the behemoth so that should the away team show up on sensors, he could beam them to safety.

As Espada made his escape, the away team struggled to reach the hanger and what they hope was safety. They knew time was running out because the flashing of the purple lighting was picking up speed and it was clear they could not reach the hanger in time. However, one thing they did notice was every hundred meters, there was a door outlined in the same lurid purple color as the warning lights. The doors were completely flush with the bulkhead and had gone unnoticed as they entered the Machine.

Now, faced with otherwise certain death, after passing two of the doors, Nira risked opening the third door, inside, she found it was an airlock! There were no spacesuits, but they had a way to exit the Machine. The issue that faced them now was, all they had were rebreathers. If they cycled the airlock, they would face the cold vacuum of space virtually unprotected...

["We've been given a deadline, it's down ta thirty minutes. The Romulans believe we have control of the Machine because we have an away team aboard it. While the second part is true, I doubt the first part is true. I've got us at yellow alert with weapons on standby. When our time is up, we'll fight the buggers as best we can, but the odds for success are nae lookin' so good at the moment."]

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Doomsday Weapon]

If it weren't for the Universal Translator, Nira would've felt it impossible. If there were still Communication Officers, it would've taken longer to figure out the systems. But figure out she did. Nira was impressed to find that the team had figured out the systems, and for her part, Nira managed to find the weapon controls.

The problem was that it was locked out and under automated control. Nira pursed her lips. Of course it did, given how this Machine, and the one Kirk and Decker and their respective ships found in their day, automatically going from one planet to the next to consume.

She heard Aarwendil and she looked around at him. When he showed her that particular system, Nira nodded. "Yeah, it's a communication station all right. However, there's not a thing we can do. It's likely to be locked out, too, along with all the other consoles, and all systems under automated control. Let's leave Communications be for now, Aarwendil, we have to find the Machine's automated control systems."

She then looked around and addressed the team. "Everybody? If you're finding consoles locked out from control, leave it be. The new priority is locating the automated control systems."

She looked around and noticed the door at the far side of the room. She remembered the door they came through and she saw the door at the far side. "I wonder...could it potentially be in there?"

[Ensign Tora Zalos|Bridge|Doomsday Machine]

At this point, Tora was ready to try whatever might work to hopefully not get them killed. Like, really, you would too if the fate of an entire planet and your crewmates also hung in the balance, right? "Sounds good to me." The Cardassian quipped, and moved to try and open the door. She hoped to goodness' sake, though,  that automated control wasn't defended by similarly automated defense systems - you know, phaser barriers, explosives and so on and so forth, and wouldn't explode or fatally shock her if she scanned a thumbprint wrong. She scanned the wall on either side of the door for an entry mechanism.

[Ensign Neva Cordon|Planet Killer]

Neva rubbed her hands together and blew into her cupped palms only to fog up her rebreather. Groaning in frustration, she looked in the direction Nira indicated.

For once, Neva walked ahead of the Commander. Her Tricorder was out and sweeping the area. Her mind whirling and a half smirk on her face, Neva stopped in front of a set of doors. "Commander, I think we found our control center." That said, Neva tucked her Tricorder back on her belt and took a deep, chest enlarging breath. Letting it out, she walked through, heart in her throat.

Neva stared in wide eyed wonder, smiling bright. THIS was why she was an Engineer in Starfleet-new things, new puzzles, new adventures. She stepped forward absently pulling her Tricorder once more. Walking slowly to the side, her eyes riveted to her Tricorder.

[Inside Doomsday Machine - Angdarr System]

When Tora approached the mystery door, it opened automatically just like all the rest they'd encountered inside the Machine. Peering into the room revealed by the open door, was both good news and bad news. The good news was, this was clearly the central computer that controlled the entire Machine. The bad news was, the computer was more sophisticated than any similar device anyone on the away team had ever seen. Overriding it or shutting it down was not going to be easy. Furthermore, but unknown to the away team, the Romulan countdown given to the Challenger was at 30 minutes, which meant they had precious little time to gain control of the Machine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Sickbay --> Brig --> Bridge - USS Challenger]

After Ojedar was treated and released by Doctor Fellows, the security teams rounded up the intruders which actually numbered a surprising 20 total individuals. Zhuk's and Blackfeather's teams escorted the intruders to the brig and set a double guard to ensure none of them could escape. Once it was clear that they were secure and that no other troublemakers were aboard, Zhuk joined Kyan on the bridge where they found the Challenger facing off against the seven Romulan ships. Ian nodded to them as they arrived and said.

"We've been given a deadline, it's down ta thirty minutes. The Romulans believe we have control of the Machine because we have an away team aboard it. While the second part is true, I doubt the first part is true. I've got us at yellow alert with weapons on standby. When our time is up, we'll fight the buggers as best we can, but the odds for success are nae lookin' so good at the moment."

[Commander Nira Said |  Control Center? >- Bridge | Doomsday Weapon]

Even Aarwendil's try didn't work. Nira could see nothing was working around these lumps.

"We're going to have to go somewhere else, and fast," she said, and then added as an afterthought, "as fast as this machine's gravity lets us."

And they backtracked (with lurching) to the ladder and climbed up. If it was bad enough to lurch less than half a kilometer on the same weight as a post-feast attendee, it was even worse climbing a ladder with that same level of gravity. Nira made a mental note to utilize her exercises and her dancing to put more emphasis on her legs, for the sake of walking strength. At the top, what they saw certainly indicated a better hope.

"Well, I'll be damned," breathed Nira in relief. "Why didn't we go up this ladder first? It would've saved some time."

Rather than lumps and holograms, this room certainly looked more like a bridge if anything. It made Nira wonder once again if there was AI of sorts operating the system...

"Okay, everybody, let's get to work," Nira ordered. "Hopefully, the consoles will make it easier to work with. Aarwendil, again, look for communications. I'm going to look for how this machine operates, to coin the offensive weaponry slang, its 'teeth.'"

Each of the team had what to do to work with the systems, even Nira. She tried to look for the weapon systems in the previous room, a former Sec/Tac chief as she was, and like the away team, she couldn't find it. She did intend to hand over the systems to Aarwendil or Neva or Tora or Jamil to disable it once she did find it, of course, but it stood to reason that the damn thing was too dangerous.

[Inside Doomsday Machine - Angdarr Systerm]

Although unlike any technology the away team had ever seen, like the universal translator picked up on basic constants to establish communication, there were enough points of commonality that after roughly half an hour of study, it was possible to isolate the Machine's critical systems. The consoles for Environmental, Engineering, Power Generation, Maneuver, Navigation, Weapons, and Communication were identified.

However, a problem every member of the away team, including Nira at the Weapons console, which she had mostly figured out, was the controls were locked out and under automated command by the Machine's computer. They had made progress, but until they could override or shut down the Machines automated control, they could not operate any of the systems they identified. Everything depended on them locating and figuring out how to deal with the Machine's autonomous control.

One critical factor that was working against the away team that they didn't even know existed, was the one hour clock Tal had given Galloway to allow the Romulans access to the Machine, an hour that was now down by half with the clock relentlessly still ticking.

[[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas and Crewman Zala | Sickbay | Deck Seven | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A | Angdarr System]]

[Commander Nira Said |  Hangar Bay >- Control Center | Doomsday Weapon]

Clad in a sweater, Nira stepped out. The moment she did, however, she suddenly felt heavy. Not in the sense that she had to drag her feet with every step, as expected in stepping in a stellar body in a mass as big as Uranus, but in the sense that it felt like stepping up from a table after eating a whole feast...or rather, a month's worth of feasts; Nira  remembered lurching from eating a feast was after having a month's worth of nightly feasts after Ramadan when she was thirteen, and she lurched when she walked for a week afterwards, the fattest she had felt before she had to work on a strict exercise regime and have her own fast, but without the feasts of the night.

It wasn't a heavy walk all the same, but it was more of the walk of somebody with...not necessarily fat, not necessarily obese, but walking still had a lurch in it, and the whole team was forced to lurch as they walked, but at least they lurched at a typical walking pace rather than a slow, heavy lurch.

As for the probe, it was still to heavy to carry, even in a hovercart, and when Nira noticed the hallways, how narrow they were and the turns not making a cart compatible, they had to abandon the cart back on the Mjolnir, along with the probe. It had stopped working, and it occurred to Nira it was more the access means, like a key to a doorway.

After lurching their way through the hallways, the team found the two doorways. Seeing the left side with the ladder, Nira muttered, "Good Allah, I don't think we can climb this, not with the weight of feasts on us in this gravity. And imagine if we even tried to bring the probe with us."

So they stepped into the right door. Nira was amazed by what she saw. Given the displays, and Nira recognized the shape of the Challenger and the Romulan ships, but she recognized them in passing and she swept her eyes around.

"Good Allah, this has to be the control center of the Machine!" said Nira. "Its brain, if it's automated. And the displays of the proximity around it, it must be its eyes..."

Then she got a better look back at the Challenger and realized the Romulans were in attack formation. She gasped. And then she glared at them. The threatening words and declaration of war on "the last remnant of the Federation," those of the Federation not taken or eliminated by the Borg, rang back to Nira: The Triumvirate Praetors glaring at them, her evil Romulan "twin" Nirreen gloatingly passing the words on.

"You dogs weren't really with the Free State, are you?" Nira snarled quietly as she stared. "You chose the right moment to attack, spring a trap. And you seven may not be the only ones. The Praetorians may very well be attacking the border planets by now. Well...you're not getting control of this."

She looked back at the away team and said, "Okay, everybody, let's see if we can do something about this Machine. Aarwendil, find a way to establish communications from here. Neva, Jamil, Tora, check out the power systems, find a way to disarm the Machine, shut down its weaponry."

[Mjolnir|Planet Killer]

"œI agree. The chances of an explosion are low."  Aarwendil said to Neva, while looking at the information given by the probe. The Ensign immediately moved to read the information regarding the hovercart. "œI'm not sure if it'll be able to carry the probe. It's too heavy for the vehicle." they would need to find another way to move it, or this mission could end in another failure.

And there wasn't time for another plan.

If the situation wasn't enough, the Romulans had returned to pester them. He thought that the Praetorians would have stayed away watching the weapon cause the destruction, like what a typical villain would do. However, they preferred to be sure that it was going to work. Aarwendil could only think that they were stupid enough to risk part of their fleet being destroyed in the process.

"œOn it, ma'am." he said to Nira, rushing to find a way that he could make the communication work. It would be the first time that he used this type of system, but he would give it a try. Obviously, it took longer than he wanted to establish communications. "œSee if you can do that now."

[Ensign Tora Zalos|Mjolnir|Planet Killer]

Tora was not an engineer. She was a scientist, for gods' sakes. Funny how things had gone from her participating in this mission as a scientist to almost being enslaved by Orions to being fired at by Romulans to studying weird alien probes made of neutronium to trying to shut down giant planet-destroying cones. All in one mission. Call that one hell of a first assignment. When she'd signed up for Starfleet Academy not once had she envisioned this madness being what she'd encounter so early on. And honestly, she was terrified. Like, very. Very, very terrified. Part of her wondered what her mother, were she still alive, would think and say if she ever found out.

Tora swallowed her trepidation, though, even as it gnawed at her ego, and got to work trying to make some heads or tails of the machine's systems. She recognized design elements from some other cultures, thank goodness for that one short module on the anthropology of engineering - whoever had built this machine had intended to make it as secure and efficient as possible. And quite possibly hated the people of current civilizations enough to build it and let it do its munchy munch business. Though there was also the possibility that this thing had been programmed and left to run until things had gotten to such a state, such was the case with similar cases in her anthropology textbooks. So she tried hard to find something, anything, that might be a program or directive interface - and hopefully get an engineer to help her out with understanding that.

[Inside Doomsday Machine - Angdarr System]

After conducting several scans and cautious experiments, the away team was able to manipulate the circle of humps on the panel to change the view displayed on the holographic tank, but that was all this device seemed to do, no amount of inputs had any impact on the Machine's operation. Despite hating to give up on the time invested, it was clear the answers they sought were not in this room.

Given the only options at this point were to backtrack toward the hanger bay or struggle up the ladder, the away team managed to stagger up the ladder to an upper deck. The ladder reached a 12 meter corridor that turned 90 degrees to the left and the away team found an door. This opened to a large 15 x 30 meter room with another door on the far side of the room. What made this room remarkable was that it was filled with computer consoles! This seemed to be the equivalent of the 'bridge' for the Machine. If they could figure out the systems here, finally, they could end the threat to Angdarr Prime.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas and Crewman Zala | Sickbay | Deck Seven | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A | Angdarr System]

At the cold response that followed the silence, Zhuk felt a chill running down his spine. He realized he was not dealing with an amateur but a wizened, experienced criminal. So, he left his sarcastic tone aside, regaining a more serious stance that had been lost for just a moment.

It took him a few seconds to respond, as he gauged the offer made by Ojegar, eschewing his companions for his freedom and the safe release of Doctor Fellows. He did not like the fact that the Nausicaan would be escaping, but truly, he concluded that he had not much choice in the matter, especially with life at risk,

"I believe it is an acceptable request. As long as you ensure the safety of Doctor Fellows here, I can take thee to a shuttle. May I be allowed to inform of this eventuality to the Captain? It would allow me to better coordinate a request for a ship, and would also allow me to clear the hangar of Security officers. Otherwise,"

Zhuk motioned towards the doors, "I may escort you there. No stratagems or machinations."

Of course, he would think about something, so that was a filthy lie. He made sure to remain with a completely stoic expression, however, so that he would not discover this detail.

Crewman Zala clenched her teeth and cried as she kept her left hand on the injury. She had lowered the rifle now, though still had her hand on the grip of the weapon, just in case she would have to raise it quickly to fire. She jumped up slightly as Lahr came closer to her aid, her eyes going big and shining under the lights of Sickbay. Fortunately, she uttered no sound, though she offered no answer to him right away.

She gulped, glancing down over at the hypospray, and then at the rifle. She feared for a moment that whatever Lahr was planning would create discord on her superior's plan. But as far as she knew, Lahr was not likely to act so recklessly, right? Yet, for how long would they be able to hide the fact that she had given him the rifle? Worry began to drown her thoughts, though finally, she took a decision.

She offered the weapon carefully over at the Andorian, before reaching out for the hypospray. Her hands trembled, "I-Its okay... d-don't... don't worry about m-me..." She tried to make light of the situation by making a quote, "N-Nothing is more i-important than your health"¦ e-except for your m-money..."

There was no money involved in the Federation, but she hoped that it would convince him that she was in no critical state. Still, as soon as she got the hypospray, she injected herself on the neck, issuing a sigh.

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 7 - Sickbay (main room)]

For what seemed like ages, Lahr watched the Ferengi calculate the situation and him, before eventually handing over the phaser rifle in exchange for the hypospray.  With weapon in hand, Lahr suddenly felt his palms go sweaty and the Andorian was aware of the slight tremor in his index finger, which he had to keep away from the trigger as he held the rifle aimed down to the floor given the hostage situation and Zhuk's attempt at negotiation.  Of course! Perfect timing for a PTSD episode!  The Andorian tried to take slow, calm breaths

By that time Abas had moved closer, so Lahr adjusted his position to cover the medic better while the Aenar attended Zala; moving between the medic and the Nausicaan.

That Zhuk was agreeing to the Nausicaan's terms, didn't sit well with Lahr.  He had no doubt that when Olejar had no use for his hostage, she'd be dead.  While the Nausicaan talked civilized, the fear and immediate respect he had from his underlings said had earned that through violence.  They needed a way to get the hostage away from the Nausicaan.

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

Olejar looked long and hard at Zhuk as he decided if the Caitian was lying to him. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the old Nausciaan spoke.

"I find it remarkable that you would agree to my terms. I must conclude that you have some sort of trick planned and that you think I'm some sort of fool. I believe-"

"I know you are a fool if you thought any part of this plan of yours was going to work!"

Jess roared in rare anger, she was not a trophy to be traded or bargained for and she was not about to find herself in the same situation as she had on Melok Nor.

Olejar jerked Jess up off her feet and snarled.

"Silence before I mar that pretty face of yours!"

"Shoot this idiot, he's 30 centimeters taller than I am you can't tell me one of you can't hit him!"

Blackfeather, who had lowered his weapon as the negotiations were underway, raised his rifle and Olejar noted this, the second he took his eyes off of Jess, she struck. Driving the hypospray against the Nausicaan's leg far harder than necessary, she unloaded the entire contents into her captor.

Olejar, despite his size and strength, was caught completely by surprise by the massive dose of sedative pumped into him. He twitched and tried to cut Jess, but even though under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have been strong enough to hold him off, as the drugs took over, the Nausicaan's strength waned and she kept the knife at bay long enough for the sedative to complete its work and he crumpled to the ground in a heap.

After a moment to gather herself, Jess straightened up to her full height and said pleasantly.

"Well don't just stand there. Get this idiot on a gurney, he's just had a massive overdose and I'll be damned if I will let him die on my watch."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian ran through all the tactical options he had and knew the situation, if it devolved into a fight, the Challenger would lose. She'd proven able to stand up to a Norexan before and he was certain, she could hold her own against two of them, but six? Even with her formidable defensive capabilities, not even a Sovereign-Class could fight six warbirds single-handedly.

Everything now rested in the hands of the away team. If they failed, the Machine would devour Angdarr Prime and continue on its current course with all the next planets being Romulan Free State worlds. This might force Tal to see reason, but reasonable and Romulan did not go hand in hand in his experience.

"I've never felt the Klingon way was for me, but if'n it comes ta a fight, then I suppose today is a good day ta die."

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Revenant NCC-99333]

The Revenant was giving chase. Nira narrowed her eyes at mention of their signatures, as well as curled her lips.

"SO," she snarled. "They're itching to make war, but they can't do it, are they? Not after what Captain Picard and his crew did. They're settling on pirate raids inspired by Gul Sherem, presumably?"

It was a ponderous question to herself. She was still kept looking at Intelligence reports regarding the Praetorians and the Triumvirate when she could. From what's reported from the Free State, there had been a momentary build-up of ships in Romulan territory further outward, heading towards the Delta Quadrant, but then they just disappeared. Right within the time reported that the Borg signal controlling the assimilated youth had dispersed. It was obvious why: They couldn't carry out their invasion; they were banking on having the Borg ships fight alongside them as they destroyed what's left of the Federation.

Nonetheless, Nira was still suspicious. True, there was no way anybody could dare to attack Earth with most of the fleet still around, even if they were being reprogrammed, the compensation for defense with all of Earth's facilities in orbit destroyed. But Nira was suspicious that the Praetorians could attack the moment the fleet was gone, when Earth had relaxed a little...

"Commander, enemy ships are heading toward the Asclepius," said Ensign V'Larinn.

"Attack a weaker opponent while exposed, are they?" snarled Nira. "V'Larinn, fire on two of the ships at your discretion. Shoot the engines off the third, preferably the lead ship; I want to make sure their officers are alive so we can get answers..."

"Targeting's not functioning well," V'Larinn said. "The electromagnetic pulse had taken out at least one or two systems; senors still work, as do the weapon systems. Targeting will have to be calibrated manually."

"Looks like you'll be the targeting sights for V'Larinn, Mister Cutter," said Nira. "Get in the path of the Romulans, we have to keep them off the Asclepius. Point them in his way once you get the Revenant in their paths. V'Larinn, fire once Cutter gets a good position. Torra, see what you can do with the targeting system," she ordered Torra.

[Bridge - USS Revenant] - [As Nathan Cutter]

Nathan didn't respond to the captain as he had already lined up the ship for a perfect shot, if he could, he would fire the weapons himself. Rather than say anything he'd regret, he simply replied.

"Aye Sir."

Hello Challengers,

Twice a year, Shadowfleet awards members for posting excellence in many categories. Most of these are selected by the command team, but the Crew Choice Award is always awarded based off of a poll by the members of the crew, this is where you get to select who you feel deserves to be recognized for any reason.

The above poll includes all the members currently on Challenger's roster for the crew to vote on as their Crew Choice Award.   Each and everyone of you are deserving of this recognition from your writing peers.

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Revenant NCC-99333]

The points made by Torra and Ensign Ramort made Nira narrow her eyes. Ramort's report about some particular ships in hiding...the fact that the Klingons reported their only ships were being repaired, it had to mean raiders. Either from a rival house of Klingons...or Romulans. The fact that there was some kind of interference to the viewscreen, it had to mean some kind of jamming.

"Mister V'Larinn, prime a quantum torpedo to generate an electromagnetic pulse and set for delayed detonation," she ordered.

"Of course, Commander," said V'Larinn. "Accessing the priming systems now to prepare a warhead," he said, looking through it; he was a little slow as he worked, and Nira could feel something from him. She looked behind her and could see something in V'Larinn's eyes...a memory flooded toward her, it was so... "loud." A memory of his seizing the Tactical Station, killing his department head, and practically unloading the whole arsenal as part of the fleet bombardment, all the while muttering mindlessly, "Eliminate all unassimilated."

Of course, she thought. The last time he manned this station and worked Tactical, he was a drone. She adjusted her posture to make sure she looked at him full in the face and said with an encouraging smile, "I believe in you, Ensign. You got this."

V'Larinn looked at her, and then nodded. Despite being a Vulcan, Nira was sure she was feeling he was reassured. And then he worked with resolve. A moment later, he said, "Quantum torpedo adjusted and ready. Set for delayed detonation of ten seconds upon launch."

Nira smiled. He really knew the systems very well. "Target the dust clusters and fire from the rear launcher."

V'Larinn nodded and worked, then said, "Ready."

"Fire."

The torpedo flew out, floated toward the clusters, and sent an EMP shockwave upon detonation. The electromagnetic pulse had knocked out the cloaks and a few systems, but the Birds of Prey were still function in weapons, shields and propulsion. The viewscreen came out clearer than before, now that the interference was lifted, and they saw the Birds of Prey clearly: in particular, they were a trio of Romulan Birds of Prey. Upon their exposure, they turned their course away from the Revenant like bats out of hell.

"I knew it! After them, Mister Cutter!" ordered Nira. "Intercept course! Bridge to Engineering, channel power to engines but some power to weapons!"

Looking around, she gave her orders. "Torra, contact Iquilon, let them know we have Romulan Raiders giving us trouble. Mister Ramort, scan the ships, see what's working and what's not. Kinley," she added, turning to her First Officer, "determine the signatures of the Romulan ships and cross reference with Starfleet Records, find out what faction they're from; they sure as hell cannot be vessels of the Free State."

[Bridge - USS Revenant] - [As Nathan Cutter]

On seeing the Birds of Prey and hearing the command to pursuit, Nathan put the Revenant into a hard side slip, rolled to port to fit between a pair of large asteroids and then flattened out into a high starboard side intercept, as it looked like he'd over shoot the trailing Romulan, he fired the forward  and starboard forward thrusters to put the agile Revenant into a full starboard drift that put the Romulan directly in front of them for an easy shot.

"You want to fly? Then let's fly."

He murmured as he waited for tactical to fire.

["Commander, you have misinterpreted the situation. Our away team may be aboard the Doomsday Machine, but they were pulled inside by a tractor beam. We are nae in contact with them and they are certainly nae in control of the thing. If'n we were, do you think your ships could stop us if we were? Please, give my people some time ta report and then we can make an informed decision as ta our next steps."]

[Commander Nira Said | Flyer Mjolnir | Hangar Bay | Doomsday Weapon?]

Nira heard Jamil's opinion, and then the sensor results came back. She then looked over to Jamil and said, "Actually, I don't think we'll need EVA suits, but judging from the atmosphere, unbreathable as it is, we'll need rebreathers and oxygen packs. And with temperature at ten degrees Celsius, at least we won't need winter packs...sweaters, maybe."

Noticing the doors, she added, "Stepping out is going to be inevitable anyhow. Everybody but Lieutenant Espada's with me. Hector," she said to Espada, "keep a transporter lock on us at all times in case something goes wrong. I'll call you if we need a quick getaway. Neva, Aarwendil," she said to the two fellow Betazoids, "see if you can move the probe, replicate a hover cart if possible. Tora, Jamil, tricorders out, it's quite the unique opportunity to see the inside of the Machine. Now get rebreathers and oxygen packs ready. Hand phasers only, we don't want to demonstrate any aggressiveness."

Once five rebreathers were replicated, along with belts carrying oxygen packs to refuel the rebreathers if need be, Nira ordered forcefields raised around the front section, around Espada. Then, once assured that rebreathers were equipped, she opened the airlock and stepped out.

At least the rebreathers were comfortable, even fitting about. The oxygen packs, adjusted for breathing conditions for every species to wear, be it member race of the Federation or not, were set for no more than an hour, but fortunately, in case of long term exploration, that's why there were spare packs on belts.

Nira proceeded cautiously toward the two personnel doors, wondering what was on the other side. The fact that this gave the impression of a ship, this was a new discovery...

[Ensign Neva Cordon|Mjolnir|Planet Killer]

Neva put her rebreather on, but the facemask got shoved up to sit on her forehead. She'd absently put on both an Engineer yellow sweater and phaser, her attention focused on the probe's readouts. Her mouth moved silently, mind whirling with ideas and suppositions.

Turning to Aarwendil, she smiled. "Ok, I think we can safely move this. It seems dormant enough for now." She looked around  the hold. "What's the status on the hovercart?"

[Inside Doomsday Machine - Angdarr System]

On departing the shuttle, the away team found themselves struggling with the Machine's standard gravity which seemed to be set at 1.4 G. On reaching one of the personnel doors, rather than having to override security, the door opened automatically.

As the Machine was 1.6 kilometers long, Nira and company walked 500 meters before the corridor came to another closed door. Fortunately, this door opened as well, inside was a large empty room with several smaller rooms along one wall and an exit door, this opened to a cross corridor with the options to go left or right. Choosing to go right the corridor ran for 30 meters and turned 90 degrees to the left, to run a total of 50 meters before ending. At the end of the passage were two doors. The door on the left opened to a ladder heading upward.

It was the door on the right that was far more interesting as it revealed a gigantic holographic tank. There was an elevated platform with 18 raised, glowing bumps arranged in a circle around two larger bumps. The holographic image at the moment displayed the local area of space around the Machine.

The away team was taken aback to see the Challenger being confronted by the seven Romulan ships facing each other at a range estimated to be 200,000 kilometers. This was inside of long weapons range and the way the Romulans were arrayed, it was obvious they were in an attack formation. Whatever was going on outside, it did not bode well for the lone Starfleet ship.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian stared back at the old Romulan, Tal with amazement. One moment, the Free State ships were observing, next, they were in an attack formation. While the Federation and the Free State were nominal allies, the Romulan Free State was still run by Romulans and while the saying might be 'never turn your back on a Breen', the same could easily be said about a Romulan.

"Commander, you have misinterpreted the situation. Our away team may be aboard the Doomsday Machine, but they were pulled inside by a tractor beam. We are nae in contact with them and they are certainly nae in control of the thing. If'n we were, do you think your ships could stop us if we were? Please, give my people some time ta report and then we can make an informed decision as ta our next steps."

Tal looked unconvinced, but finally relented.

"You have one of your hours."

[[USS Challenger-A - Deck 7 - Sickbay (main room)]]

[Commander Nira Said | Flyer Mjolnir | Hangar Bay | Doomsday Weapon?]

As Nira awaited an answer, she heard the increase in signalling between the probe and the Machine. She looked back befuddled and had turned to Neva to ask a question when it stopped...

She looked around and then saw that they were tractored again, and they were now being pulled inside.

"Captain, I think we're being guided inside," she said. "Whoa...we're being taken into some kind of a hangar..."

But comms were breaking up and then shut off completely; the Mjolnir and the away team were cut off from the Challenger. They were soon settled in. Nira looked out and could definitely see they were in a huge hangar.

"It's a hangar all right," she said to the team. "This certainly puts a new perspective, although...it certainly doesn't make it a ship, not if it's thinking coherently, either between this probe or its default program to consume."

Looking back to the team, she said, "I'm guessing there's some form of artificial intelligence behind this machine, and the probe is the means of communication with it. Neva, Tora, see if there's a way to communicate with the Machine with that probe," she ordered. "Jamil, Aarwendil, check the sensors, see if there's a breathable atmosphere around here; there's a good chance we may be exploring this new environ."

"œAye, aye, Commander will do," Jamil said. The Scientist blinked his eyes on hearing Commander Nira asking for sensors for air for them to breathe. This was new. He felt he came out of nowhere, like he was on autopilot doing things, and here he was in Mjolnir, which he figured. Where are they anyway? Oh. Shit!

Probe. What Probe? Why was he not remembering things? He had this happen to him a long time. He might consider having this mental thing checked later.

"œI believe you are all stuck in those spacesuits. It's just enough to pass but not enough not to pass. Suggest suit up," he reported.

[Inside the Doomsday Machine - Angdarr System]

Although cut off from the outside galaxy, the sensors of the Mjolnir worked fine inside the massive hanger and detected that the compartment had pressurized, but the resultant atmosphere was unbreathable for the species of the away team. The temperature was on the cold side, just 10 degrees Celsius, so full EVA suits would not be required, but rebreathers would be. The away team could see out the windscreen of the Mjolnir that there were two smaller personnel sized doors that led out of the hanger. It was obvious that if they wanted answers, they were going to have to leave the shuttle to find them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 7 - Sickbay (main room)]

Lahr had been correct that Security had been preparing a breach; he'd just gotten the entrance wrong.   No sooner had he begun discreetly loosening the fasteners on the jefferies tube access panel, when suddenly the medical staff only door slid open and Sickbay went into chaos with phaser and disruptor fire.  Lahr, for his part, hit the floor to avoid getting shot.

He lifted his head at hearing the old Nausicaan call out for Challenger's security to 'stand down'.  Lahr winced at seeing Dr. Fellows being used as a direct shield and hostage.  Oooh, Galloway would be livid when he heard of that.  Whatever reasons the Nausicaan thought he had for justifying this attack on the ship, would mean nothing to the Captain after learning this.  Doh!

Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas and Crewman Zala | Jefferies Tubes --> Sickbay | Deck Seven | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A | Angdarr System

"Halt! Hold your fire!"

Shouted Zhuk as Doctor Fellows was taken hostage, observing the situation from his vantage point behind a Hover Gurney. Glancing over to his entry point, he noticed Zala on her knees, clutching a disruptor injury on her upper side. She still held her rifle with her other hand, however, struggling to keep it aimed at the enemy.

The rest of his team were nowhere to be seen. Maybe the door was short-circuited, or something outside had kept them from venturing into Sickbay. Fortunately, Koloz and Blackfeather's team had followed his orders to the letter, breaching in from another door into the Medbay, and pacifying some of the miscreants he and Zala had been unable to.

He went back to analyzing the hostage situation swiftly. Zhuk was certain that he could shoot with his phaser rifle at Ojegar, putting him out of the equation. However, he knew that Jess, even if she did not cover much of his body, was on the line. And even though his more aggressive self dared him to pull the trigger, he decided not to. He would not risk the lives of anyone on the Challenger for fame and glory. If the finger on the trigger went off as a chain reaction of the stun, then Jess would be in trouble. And he would never forgive himself for it.

He slowly lowered his weapon, straightening up slightly as he moved his digit from the activator,

"Very well... it would seem as if we remain at an impasse," Zhuk began, as he tried to scan for an opening he could exploit to rescue Doctor Fellows, "While I did not took thee for a sneaksby, it would seem that is the case. What a shame..."

He slowly shook his head as he then took a deep breath, "Perhaps it would be a good moment to tell me what do you seek within our vessel. We certainly do not have latinum or wealth... an... escape from the imminent destruction of the planet instead? Hm. For that I assume you did not require to commandeer an entire deck, yes? So what it is then?"

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

Ojegar gave Zhuk a very long hard look before he replied in a cold tone.

"This operation has failed to live up to expectations. Unfortunately, my subordinates bungled their execution of my plan and here we are. You see, the goal was to get away with as much Bio-mimetic gel as your ship had on hand. As that now seems unlikely, as is your ability to prevent the destruction of the planet, it would seem a shuttle would suffice to meet my needs. As my associates have proven to be less than valuable to me, you may keep them in exchange for my freedom and the life of your doctor here. Are we in agreement?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

As Ian struggled with the decision of whether to try to aid the away team or to stand by and let them figure out what to do on their own, Catalan spoke up.

"Sir, I am receiving a hail from the lead Warbird."

"On screen."

The screen switched from that of the Doomsday Machine to a very old Romulan who gave Ian long apprizing look before he spoke.

"I am Commander Tal. It would seem that the Federation has taken control of the planet slayer. Although we are allies, the Romulan Free State believes that such a powerful weapon in the hands of even an ally to be an unacceptable threat. I therefore demand shared access to the weapon, or I am authorized to take whatever action I deem necessary to end this threat."

Ian remained silent as Tal spoke and wondered.

"What sort of life have I led ta have a bloody day like this?"