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[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

It was a solid and sound idea... except for the variable that was the damned tear itself.  The Captain was about to give the order when Nira commented on the ship's movements.  Sure enough, it seemed to be making a beeline for the tear... but why?

He considered both Nira and T'Lara.  "This new ship is foreign enough that our computer can't find any markings to any of the known species here or on the other side of the galaxy... and its not the first time we had subspace used as a dimensional portal. It could be a number of things... and I intend to find out."

"Said, prepare 6 max yield class ten torpedoes, and disable the reaction safeties.  Set them for remote detonation... we need them all to go off at the same time.  T'Lara, prepare the tractor beam and standby for beam-out.  Graham, get us within range."

Discovery was pushed even faster, now a race against the clock.  As soon as the torpedoes were ready, Nevir had to get them off the ship as fast as possible, so he ordered them fired.  Flashes of light shot out of Discovery, racing way ahead of the ship and matching speed with each other.  There was nothing to impact at the tear itself... just like the warp core, they had to do it manually.

As soon as Discovery was in range, the Captain ordered the tractor beam.  The ship slowed a bit... but it seemed like it was slipping through.  The beam just couldn't get a lock.  They tried the transporters, and it took precious time for the computer to even be able to make it through the ship material... then it had to lock on lifesigns. 4 in total.  But the ship was nearly there.. either to die or escape.  There was just one more chance.

"No... you're not getting off that easy.  Detonate!" he ordered.  If they could seal the rift, that ship would not be going anywhere.  A buildup of energy in front of the ship was registering for a moment, and then the viewsceen flashed bright as 6 giant explosions occurred simultaneously.  Nevir shielded his eyes from the projected flash as the seconds started to tick away. Then the light started to fade, and it looked like the explosions themselves were being sucked into the tear... but the tear was also shrinking.  After a minute, the tear was gone.

A sigh of relief on the bridge was not enjoyed by the Captain, as he scanned the viewscreen trying to find the blasted ship.  He couldn't see it visually, however.

"T'Lara, scan for the ship or any fragments.  Tell me we got something."

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

T'Lara watched as Nira launched the torpedoes, the light of the flashes reflecting in her eyes. She slid into an Ops station to carry out Tekin's order, but the beam just wouldn't catch on the ship. She conveyed this as the officers around her continued working to transport the crew of the ship, to do anything to find out more about these confusing individuals. They almost snagged one of them, but the ship was gone before the transport was successful.

As the fantastic sight of the explosions subsided and the tear began to disappear, T'Lara nodded at her captain's next request and began scans. Her mouth turned up in a frown for just a moment as she recalibrated the sensors and tried multiple times, but it was no use.

"It would be a lie, Captain, and I am not one for telling them. No tachyon particles, ship signatures, life signs...nothing. It is as if the ship never existed." She said this calmly, standing from the Ops station and walking back to the XO chair. "It would appear as though we have hit a stumbling block," she concluded. Unless someone else found something she missed, that was how it appeared to her.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The first couple of torpedoes shots missed by a hair, but the third one was an impact.  And for the first time since the combat started there was finally clear evidence of damage.  Another ship would have been seriously damaged with the impact, but aside from low shields and minimal hull damage, their black opponent was still very much capable.  Nevir ordered a full barrage of phasers, since it seemed that they would need maximum damage to get anywhere with this ship.  The ship itself was fighting back, but it kept looping around and staying in the region of the tear.

Another volley aimed at Discovery impacted just below the underside of the Alpha hull, and that one hit took the shields down a serious amount.  Unfortunately Nevir couldn't see the status, that was tactical.  In addition, there was hull damage and breaches on decks and 6.

"Evacuate the affected sections and and seal off the decks.  Conserve power for the shields and hull plating."  Both ships were still in combat, but as the fire exchange continued, progress was being made.

Finally, the Discovery got a good shot.  A lucky shot.  One that caused the engines of the black ship to flair, and the next beam from the ship was noticeably weaker.

Nevir gave a grim chuckle.    "No.. I'm not the Admiral... I'm still with Starfleet." he said grimly, considering the options.

"If we were to do it... does it have to be our main warp drive?  Can we use the Alpha core?"

Meanwhile, the black ship had stopped attacking, and started to make it way away from Discovery.. and it looked it they were going for the tear.

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira blinked in surprise. For once, damage was inflicted on that vessel! Maybe she can actually disable the ship with the payload they have; again, she would prefer not to destroy the ship, not when there are lunatics that need to be brought to justice.

Hearing Lek's comm, Nira had to raise an eyebrow. Firstly, in her opinion, Tekin was no Picard. He was Sisko and Kira, two prominent figures in post-occupation Bajor, rolled into one: The brilliance and audacity combined with determination. She had to smile at Lek's words at that. Secondly, sacrificing even one third of the core, let alone the whole core, was a huge gamble; unless they got themselves some spare cores handing, they'll only be left stranded in the potentially unstable middle of nowhere if that happened; everybody knows one can't go anywhere without a warp core, unless it's worth making it back to Earth as withered old ladies and gents.

But then Lek proposed something made by one of his assistants, one Ensign Wynters. A spread of photon torpedoes on the tear...actually, it makes sense, and this was normal space...

She looked back down at the sensors and could see the black ship was changing course...towards the tear...?

"Captain, the ship is heading to the tear!" she said, partly in surprise. "Do these lunatics have a death wish, unless they think themselves interdimensional beings and trying to get into a space between spaces, even at the cost of a few planets?"

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

T'Lara kept herself busy overseeing the evacuations via reports from senior officers as the firing continued. When Discovery's shot finally hit, she watched the ship head for the tear and gave her input on Nira's question.

"I do not believe it is logical for this ship to destroy themselves at this point, but perhaps the amount of damage they've dealt is all they set out to do. They will either have some way to escape, or they will perish."

Perhaps the crew of this ship had another way to escape up their sleeves, or they actually wanted to die, as Nira said. This was not an entirely foreign solution. T'Lara did not condone anything these people had done, as their actions were against her moral compass. But she could create an argument for their goals.

[1 Year Service Ribbon]

Hello Discovery crew!!!

Here are the results of our bi-annual awards. Congratulations!!!

1 Year Service Ribbon

Cadet Lucy Belle ('Luby') Wentock

2 Year Service Ribbon

Lieutenant Nira Said, Crewman Zavrol Gohun (in six days!)

3 Year Service Ribbon

Lieutenant Don Damien Addams

4 Years of Service

Lieutenant Lek

5 Year Service Ribbon

Captain Tekin Nevir and Lieutenant Commander T'Lara

Honourable mentions to our newest crewmembers Kimiko Sugiyama (2 months), and Everett Wynters (2 months)

Posting Ability

Posting Excellence Award

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

Lieutenant Nira Said

Descriptive Combat Award

Lieutenant Nira Said

Technical Precision Award

Lieutenant Lek

Most Engaging Member Award
Awarded in January and July to the player who writes the most emotionally engaging, scene setting posts.

Cadet Lucy Belle ('Luby') Wentock

Best Duo Award

Awarded in January and July to the two players who have shown the highest levels of cooperation.

Lieutenant Don Damien Addams and PO2 Alexander Graham

Rib Tickler Award

Awarded in January and July to the player with the most humorous posts.

Lieutenant Don Damien Addams and Cadet Lucy Belle ('Luby') Wentock

Extra Contribution

Captain's Personal Merit Award

Crewman Everett Wynters

Executive Officer's Personal Merit Award

Lieutenant Nira Said

Crew Choice Award

Lieutenant Nira Said

Outstanding Commitment Award

These are awarded in January and July to players who are always online and posting regularly in missions.

Lieutenant Don Damien Addams

Contribution Award

This is awarded in January and July to players who make contributions outside of missions. These could include submitting mission ideas and helping new members settle in.

Ensign Danjar-Torra Addams

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

With a look of horror on his face, the Captain had to regain control of himself and remain in command. There were tears visible in space around the once planet.  They would have to be careful... but if they couldn't maintain a warp bubble, then neither could this other vessel... right?

"I doubt the Romulans would go around destroying worlds to test something.  Let's not assume.  Helm, lay in an intercept course, full impulse.  Bring the ship to yellow alert and as soon as we can, raise shields.  Once we are in range... hail them." he ordered, as they turned and moved through the growing field of debris and headed to the other ship.  The ship didn't bother to cloak, so that was another sign that this was not Romulan.  No, it was something else... something unusual.

The ship was not responding to hails.  It was keeping its course.

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

"That's an excellent point, Captain," said Nira. "No Romulan would be this destructive. If any faction went around destroying planets, there'd be nothing for them to rule if they could destroy anything and everything."

Nira responded to the Captain's orders, bringing the ship to Yellow Alert and raising shields. She kept an eye on the ship as Discovery drew closer, all while keeping an eye on the shields, what with the tears and any potential chance of attack. She had to raise an eyebrow at the fact that the ship didn't seem to bother making evasive maneuvers; was it possible they were overconfident, they were able to get away scot-free without having to be bothered by anybody?

The ship wasn't cloaking, and that in itself was another indication this definitely wasn't a Romulan ship. Meaning the ship was potentially not rigged with a cloaking device or if they did, again, Nira had to consider the overconfidence factor.

Once at hailing range, Nira opened the hailing frequency and said, "Hailing frequency open, Captain." After a moment, Nira said, "No response." She looked back up at the ship and at Mister Graham at the helm. The way the ship was maintaining course, the Discovery was going to catch up with it, though assuming it went to warp, and the way the signature faded fast, Nira intended to keep an eye on its bearing just in case.

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

T'Lara glanced at Tekin, then looked back at the sight before them. Finally, they had a target. She clenched one fist, but softened it as they prepared the ship for their next steps. She itched to be back at a science console, but in her position all she could do was wait and see what this ship had in store for them. So far they were keeping quiet, but like Nira the Vulcan was on alert for any surprises.

Please vote for Disco's crew choice July 2021!

[Lieutenant Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Nira pursed her lips at the Captain's words. "You're right, sir," she said. "And I agree. Too many puzzle pieces. We just don't know enough. And any population could look expendable. There's one definite thing. The destruction looks so absolute, it's like whoever did this doesn't want to leave any loose ends. We'll just have to see what the away team finds within the twenty-minute window."

Suddenly, a beeping went off at Tactical. Nira went over. It was the sensors. And...Nira grit her teeth at what the sensors saw...

"Captain!" she said. "Long range sensors have detected another wave. But this one looks larger...and the sensors indicate it's moving more slowly, it looks more like a shockwave than the flash detected the last previous times. Coordinates, bearing..."

As Nira gave the coordinates, she shuddered as she spoke, and had she shuddered worse, she would've stuttered in horror. If this...reaction was larger than before, that meant a whole system, not just a planet, had been absolutely obliterated. She was expecting the possibility that they would find any one of the six nearby systems wiped clean from the face of the galaxy. She prayed to Allah, the Prophets, and the Rings of Betazed, three different religions from three different planets, that she was wrong.

She looked up and noticed Commander T'lara had returned. Which meant the away team, and thus imzadi Savar, was back.

"Commander?" she said. "Did you find it? Any tetracellium at all?"[Lieutenant JG Savar | Shuttle | Ravaged Planet]

Savar worked quickly in his scanning, what with the window the away team had been given. And given the time limit they had, as such, probes were deployed to widen the search area. It was an excellent idea, and it was a good thing, too. Within ten minutes after the Captain informed them of their time limit, the sensors finally found it.

"Commander," he said. "One of the probes has found the tetracellium we're looking for. Yes, confirmed, if our sensors and probes weren't searching for tetracellium, we wouldn't have found it...but we don't have much time."

He explained that, according at the sensors, the very rock where the tetracellium was found was desintigrating fast. It was crumbling from a small rock (when it was Surak knows a good chunk of rock previously) to dust, and in a matter of seconds, let alone minutes, the dust would be ground to atoms, to electrons, to whatever the hell came after.

It was the evidence, the smoking gun, as Nira and/or one of her favorite detectives of fiction or history would say.

With that, he directed T'Lara to the probe and, working quickly, he saw she got the probe that detected the tetracellium, which was also the closest one, to collect as much samples as possible of whatever was left of the rock. They didn't collect much, but it was better than nothing, and they barely got it.

"Well, no space walk, but I think we got something accomplished," said Savar, wiping his brow of sweat, so edge-of-his-seat as he was.

Once the shuttle was docked, Savar took the sample and informed T'Lara, "I'll get this to the lab, Commander. Well, Lieutenant Said's forensics lab, I've been using it to examine our previous evidence...anyway, you know where to find me." And with that, he was off to examine the potential evidence.

[Shuttle - previously...]

Savar did most of the grunt work, T'Lara mostly running through the motions of extracting the tetracellium once the probes detected it. They didn't have time to notify the captain of their findings, but when they had gathered all they could they returned to the ship and everyone was brought up to speed. Savar left to take care of the analysis, while the XO made for her place on the Bridge.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Nevir took a seat at one of the auxillary engineering stations as Lek's call came in.  He pulled up the sensors, and being able to see the reading in a scientific light, frowned with the Chief's words.

"You should come up to the bridge sometime; you always have a station open and you'll be able to know everything happening." he said with a semi-joking tone.  Nothing to actually lecture his Chief Engineer for.

"Someone is doing something with subspace; causing explosions that are reverberating through subspace and tearing into normal space.  We are investigating to make sure its not a violation of the Khitomer Accords and to get whoever is responsible to answer for them.  Do what you can to safeguard the warp cores.  We are going to have to stay at low warp speeds in this area to keep damage to a minimum.  We are already looking at a decade or more before this region is safe to travel again." 

As T'Lara came in and took her station, before the Captain could speak Nira spoke and asked the question he was about to.  There really is no reason why his Chief Tactical officer needed to know what the away team found, and it did make the Captain sigh.  Nira did like to put her hands in as many orbs as possible.  Reminded him of a few over-eager officers.. himself included.

"Commander, I trust that I'll receive a report soon?" he said, keeping his focus on T'Lara.  At least until something showed that was Nira's place to know about.

The Captain had his eyes raised as he swung his head around.  "What?" he asked rhetorically, though he knew what that meant.  He looked out the viewscreen out of habit; a subspace wave wouldn't normally show in normal space... but the amount of damage here would show it instead as it went through the system.

"Bigger?  How big?" he asked, but he didn't need an answer; pricks of light as the wave passed through the tears in subspace was enough to tell them that the wave was about to impact.  "Brace... we don't know if this one will-"

He didn't finish his statement as the waved washed over the ship, and this time it did effect it.  Hard.  The ship rocked and shuddered; no sparks or explosions, but it did shake hard.  The warp field around the ship collapsed, and the engineering team in the Alpha core had to perform an emergency shutdown of the core to stabilize it.  Almost as soon as it started, it was gone.  Damage was minimal, and luckily since the main core had been offline for diagnostics, it was untouched.  But until that core was brought back online, they were on impulse.

"Find which system it was; helm, get us out of this system and prepare for low warp.  We're not going to keep playing catch up!" Nevir ordered, as he took his seat again.

The Vulcan listened to Nira's update and Tekin's response. She would have replied to his request, but she never had the chance to as the ship was rocked and buffeted as if from a strong wind. T'Lara braced herself for the mere moments the wave occurred, then looked to the captain for their next steps. Since his orders weren't directly to her, she kept up on Savar's progress and sent him a message as a reminder of the urgency the ship was currently under.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The Captain nodded as he hit the comm on his chair.    "Understood, Mr. Lek, Warp 3 should be enough."  he stated, watching as Mr Graham relieved Don and took the helm, immediately pulling the ship out of the range of the planet on its way out of the system.

Nira had been able to triangulate the source, and it was definitely one of the systems they had sighted.  Nevir grimaced at the multi-habitable planets system, and immediately prayed to the Prophets in his mind.

"Mr Graham, set course for 134 mark 10, Warp Three." he ordered, watching the ship turn and then go to warp.  Before they went only Warp 1, but now that they knew what was going on, he was not going to let this person get away with it. It took only 20 minutes instead of a few hours, and Nevir sat motionless as the ship sailed.  It wasn't until they dropped out of warp and entered the system that he let himself move.

"Bridge to Engineering; be advised that we are most likely about to enter another weakened field; make sure the warp core is secured." 

There were two planets in this system that were habitable, and long range sensors on Torra's station has already confirmed both planets were inhabited.  At this point the two planets were more than 90 degrees apart, so there was no risk to both planets.  However, as they reached the epicenter, it was clear... the third planet was hit.  And like the others, this one was even worse.  Instead of a chuck of the planet... it was the entire planet fracturing.  A population of 1.3 billion were suddenly snuffed out.

But, if there was one good news, it was that this was still in the beginning stages.  The sparkles of light indicated active damage to subspace, as it was happening.  There was still no sign of tachyon emissions or warp trail or ion trails.  But there was an unknown trail still showing on sensors, quickly dissipating.  And the source was still there, heading away.  A relatively small sleek black ship of a completely unknown design.  This was no where near a Romulan ship.  It was just... weird.

As they set off on their heading, T'Lara watched their progress through the viewscreen thoughtfully, trying to hypothesize about who would have gone through all the trouble of bringing about what they were witnessing again and again. Romulans were of course on the list, as they had been the source of most of their troubles lately. But it could be any number of groups and until they found out who, they weren't able to uncover the why.

When they made it to the broken planet, T'Lara's eyes widened at the sight, but her mouth remained set. So much death and destruction. Nira was already working to track down the retreating ship, so she clasped her hands together as they drew closer to finding their answers. That is, if the strange black ship didn't manage to elude them.

[Lieutenant JG Savar | Shuttle | In Orbit of Ravaged Planet]

Savar could understand if T'Lara felt about Savar as most Vulcans would. She had seen her raise an eyebrow at him at mention of Pon Farr, but that was the only reaction he had noticed the entire time he spoke. He wouldn't be surprised if she would've voiced his disapproval.

What struck him was how much he divulged to T'Lara. He never talked this much to anybody, let alone another Vulcan. Somehow...maybe it was a bit of Nira in him...he felt he could trust T'Lara. Nira respected her, and so Savar respected the First Officer back.

Fortunately, the rest of the team assembled and he was spared any potential reprimands. As soon as the shuttle launched, Savar was instructed to begin scans, to particularly keep an eye out for tetracellium. It looked more likely that they won't be landing the shuttle on one of the chunks of planet ripped asunder from the surface. He once looked up and saw the exposed core and cringed. What kind of weapon, as most likely it will be, would do this?

The call from the Captain and his query to the rush prompted T'Lara's reply and if something was happening on the ship, whatever was going on around the planet, this wasn't good at all. Savar nodded to keep up with the scans. As such, he doubled his efforts, determined to find something as fast as possible before they had to go back to the ship.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

There was a bit of a dimming as the main warp core was taken offline and the Alpha core redirected the power flow in the ship.  As the diagnostic began, initially there didn't seem to be anything.  But the engineering team would start to see small inconsistencies that would start to add up; all of them seemed to be the warp core interacting with the weakened and damaged subspace in the area. It wasn't something that can't be fixed, it would take some time.  But had the engineering team not taken that kind of notice, then these errors would have started to build on each other.  By the time the ship took notice... well Lek had a creative enough mind to picture the consequences.

Nevir walked over to see the systems in question that both Addams and Nira looked into and he was not able to really find a pattern either.  It wasn't population, at least nothing they could isolate.  And the nature of the reactions made it so that there was almost no trace left over to work on, so it wasn't easy to isolate any materials.

"We are missing too many puzzle pieces... we need something else." he said, shaking his head as he went to take his seat.

It was about 10 minutes later that anything was found; there was a small reaction that was disintegrating a floating asteroid. In seconds the relatively small rock was broken into smaller and smaller pieces, before it was just dust that faded in space.  That was the smoking gun they were looking for; but somehow they needed to get a sample before it took broke up and faded... if they could find another piece.

Meanwhile, the long range sensors showed a familiar reading... another wave.  This one seemed larger, and was moving slower; more like a shockwave than the light flash that they had the last two times.

[Shuttle - USS Discovery]

T'Lara and Savar worked at finding objects of significance from the destruction surrounding them, sending out specialized probes to collect samples from the biggest chunks of rock. Scans located the tetracellium and, knowing they were working with limited time, the XO took the liberty of collecting a very small sample before they gathered everything up and had Graham take them back.

There was limited conversation between them as they arrived back at the ship and returned to their stations. T'Lara took her seat.

"Samples have been sent to the lab, can I have an update on our situation?"

Once again, the dialogue was not needed since she received reports from practically everyone. But she saw value in the communication, at the very least because it followed protocol.

[Quote by Tekin Nevir]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The Captain pondered for a moment at the bridge officers.  "I guess that would be a possibility.  We shouldn't rule out anything without evidence to do so.  Inform the XO to look for tetracellium samples.  If we can rule it in or out that brings us a step closer.  I want to be ready to find out what this is.  There is no telling what might happen next." he ordered, standing up.  The ambient light on the bridge changed color as the viewscreen displayed the exposed core of the planet as it died.  It was a stark reminder of what they just witnessed.

"Torra, scan as much of the system as possible.  Try to recreate the record for this planet, for history.  These people had their entire existence cut short... we should honor their memory by making sure they aren't forgotten." he said, shaking his head.

"Said, Adams, find and map the other systems in the sector.  Let's see if we can't find some sort of pattern.  Get it done." he stated, not moving as he stared into the death of a planet.

[Quote by Savar]

[Lieutenant JG Savar | Shuttlebay | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Savar noticed Commander T'Lara arrive. And when she spoke, he nodded cordially, a slight smile at her compliment.

"You're welcome, Commander," he said. "Of course, N...Lieutenant Said doesn't mind I use her Forensics Lab for that, and any further potential analyses."

The next set of questions intrigued Savar. T'Lara wanted to get to know him. Then again, it was understandable, Vulcan to Vulcan, even if they both came from different cultures.

"Very much, Commander," he said. "Especially since my courtship and later engagement with Lieutenant Said. We're quite a pair, us two telepathic loners together.

"As to where I used to serve," he continued, "the posts are variable. I mostly worked in long-distance outposts, working on sensor arrays. They're assignments that encouraged isolation, being an unusual Vulcan as I am, a V'tosh Ka'tur...a 'Vulcan Without Logic.' I've been that specific with my transfers since my graduation...with exception to my first post aboard the Starship Biko after my graduation, a good first assignment for any Science officer starting out, which should fit especially as it's manned by a crew of all Vulcans. But immediately, I was showing how unusual I was. I never fit in with the crew, and so I transferred a month later to an outpost, array maintenance at a sensor platform near a nebula. I've gone from outpost to outpost ever since, until a brief assignment at Starbase Columbus, where a higher science officer recommended giving a starship chance. I gave that some thought after some leave at Vulcan, and after that, I decided to give it a try. That was when I came aboard the Discovery, seeing as they were in need of science personnel. I joined just as they were heading for Policyon II, and ironically..."

He glanced around for anybody hearing and spoke quietly, "I was experiencing early stages of Pon Farr right then. It had just manifest itself when I first met Lieutenant Said. We've been a couple ever since, considering what Pon Farr is. Nira...somehow she didn't mind. For one thing, she enjoyed the binding of two minds together, telepath as she is. For another, she probably felt a need for some love in her life, since she had two relationships that fell through. She wasn't aware of the full implications of Pon Farr until later. And the bond formed from it...that was when I decided to propose to her; it felt more...right this way."

Savar was surprised he was talking this much to another Vulcan, let alone a superior officer, let alone the Exec. He never talked about how many isolated posts he had before Discovery to Nira...though it probably didn't matter; they shared their memories, therefore he assumed she was aware of how isolated and introverted he was, and that he preferred lonely assignments until Discovery.

At the comm for inquiring of inoculations, when T'Lara asked...or implied...if he had his inoculation, he nodded in reply. He did get his inoculations; Nurse Kwaan treated him with it, the fastest available nurse. Then he heard the comm from the Captain to T'Lara: to look out specifically for tetracellium. That made Savar rapt. This meant he had something specific to look for.

[Quote by Tekin Nevir]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

With the site of the crime as it were currently gaining altitude, the evidence they would need would end up being in the rocks and chunks currently in orbit.  Which meant it was the time for scanners, transporters, and if needed, the EVO suits.  The debris was quickly changing, now that the planet wasn't protecting it from the solar winds and radiation.  The largest of these chucks were about 50 kilometers across, with the remains of gases and freezing water starting to lift from the surface of it.  And at one corner, the same black shine they found in the previous planet.

On the ship there were new concerns, as the blast's affect was playing around with the inactive warp field.  Not necessarily something a non-engineer would notice, but there were minute fluxuations in the warp core itself.  Not enough to cause concern, but something that needs to be sought out and monitored.

[Quote by Tekin Nevir]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

While the away team reached the debris field and started work, a call from his console alerted the Captain.  It was Lek... with a request.  If it had something to do with his goose chase of finding future tech, he might not have taken it too seriously, but the tone of the Ferengi and the request itself was concerning.

"Understood Chief.  Bring the Alpha Core online and then start your diagnostic.  Make this is a priority; we are dealing with damaged subspace out here."  he stated, standing up.  He walked down to the Ops/Helm station, and looked out the viewscreen.

"Discovery to away team.  You have 20 minutes.  I don't want you guys out there longer than you need to.  Find what you need and get out of there." 

"Helm, be ready to leave at a moment's notice, and tap the Alpha core into main propulsion."

[Lieutenant JG Savar | Shuttlebay | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

In the shuttle, as Savar waited, he heard the call from Captain Tekin to the rest of the team. He raised an eyebrow in the typical Vulcan way.

"What's the rush, I wonder?" he asked Commander T'Lara. He hoped that she and he, the two Vulcans, and Mister Graham and Mister Gohun and the doctor, when they came, would know that this was going to be something urgent.

[Shuttlebay - USS Discovery]

T'Lara listened to Savar, confused by his slight slip-ups in conversation. Not because Vulcans never had errors in their speech, but because his mannerisms and syntax were so...foreign coming from the mouth of one of her kind. In her younger years she had chastised herself for not being "Vulcan" enough, but this man was even more different than she had been. She began to think that if she had been in his situation she would have felt quite isolated, even if the assignments hadn't been of that nature. But then again, his familiarity with emotion would make him more accessible to other humanoid species, as his engagement with Lt. Said perfectly illustrated. Perhaps he had many friends on the Discovery, an endeavor she had triend multiple times to pursue. She raised an eyebrow at the rather private details of his experience with Pon Farr, and refused to comment on it. Her own Pon Farr experience had been fairly uniform, despite her heritage. But she would never speak about it with anyone else, and she wondered why he felt the need to divulge his.

She was saved from responding by Luby, but she felt that responding to the woman would be redundant. She knew what she needed to investigate, and Savar knew it, too. When the team was assembled, they set out.

This time, she put Ta Li in the copilot position as she took on running scans with Savar. She gazed at everything with rapt attention as they began orbiting around the debris. Some similarities from their previous venture, but the difference in scale was striking. They were working steadily for awhile when they got the comm from Tekin. T'Lara looked up.

"I assume there have been developments on the ship that require us to return," she said rather obviously to Savar.  "Continue the scans as long as time permits, then we will go back to Discovery." She included everyone in her last statement. If they didn't find tetracellium or anything else of interest they would have to return empty handed.

[[Sickbay]]

[Lieutenant JG Savar | Shuttlebay | Deck Ten | USS Discovery NCC-78393-B]

Savar had just finished his late breakfast. He had gotten up late, considering two neuro-pressure session nights in a row took someone like him, a man with the most basic knowledge of neuro-pressure...well, it was as much a pleasurable experience to him as it was his Imzadi, his fiancee, his Nira. He profusely apologized to his departmental head and informed him he'll be along as soon as he had eaten.

He had just finished when he looked up and saw the planet that had come into view...and the shock that came to him was so strong, had it been any extremely worse, Vulcan or no, he would've spewed up not just the breakfast he ate, but a week's worth of meals.

Before the view was a whole portion of a planet ripped up by...something similar to that flash, but it was worse. Much, much worse.

Receiving a call from Commander T'Lara, and that the same away team was called again, Savar made his way to collect an EV suit, and was out of the lounge before T'Lara had even finished. As such, after getting the suit and getting inoculated again, he was the first to arrive this time, anticipating the rest of the team.

As he waited, he recollected the chunks of planet ripped out and he wondered if it was more likely they would have to land on one of the chunks, rather than the planet itself. He wondered if it was too dangerous to even set foot on that planet this time.

[Sickbay]

Realising that the Away team might have changed, Luby decided to ping Commander T'Lara.  Better to double check than potentially have someone unprotected against something.

Cadet Wentock to Commander T'Lara, I realise you may be busy but could you please confirm that everyone has had whatever hypos they required, I believe there were some spares left in the medkit I left with you if you've already set off.  I'd just rather that people were safe rather than half dead by the time you get back.  Good Luck out there!

[Shuttlebay 1 - USS Discovery]

T'Lara received her inoculation, then made her way to the shuttlebay and walked in to see Savar already waiting to go, something she appreciated. She nodded to him and clasped her hands as best she could in the suit. After several moments of silence, something she was completely fine with, she decided to break it. She figured it was in her best interest to get to know this man better, though she was slightly offended by his unconventional practices. It was interesting, because at the same time she was intrigued by him. Anything out of the ordinary had an increased potential for exploration, but she did not know if it would be wise for her to invest in it.

"Thank you for completing the soil analysis so promptly." Several more moments passed. "Have you...enjoyed your time serving on Discovery? Where have you served previously?" She didn't know how old he was, but it was possible they had crossed paths without her knowing.

After their chat, she received a comm from Luby.

"T'Lara to Cadet Wentock. The away team compliment has not changed, however I will send you the list again if you require it. So far Lieutenant Savar and I are the only ones who have arrived. I trust he has received his inoculation, so you should have three remaining. Let me know if this matches with your records. T'Lara out." 

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Nevir nodded as his First Officer returned.  "Apologies for cutting your investigation short.  Another wave was detected and we are en route to that location.  One is interesting... two... hardly a coincidence." he said sullenly, as he watched the ship leave the system and jump to warp.  Nevir remained in command for a few hours, only standing up to leave hours later.

Instead of going to his quarters, the Captain instead ended up going down to the lab; he was still a scientist after all.  There was a clear Khitomer Accord violation, they just needed to identify what it was to stop it.

As he entered the lab and moved over to the samples, the Captain started looking through computer readouts of the spectral analysis.  So far there didn't see anything that really helped.  Just fused atoms that abruptly stopped.  Whatever it was gave a lot of energy, and acted like anti-matter in a way... only it affected subspace as well.

[Deck 10 - Science Lab 3 - USS Discovery]

The captain didn't say much as the Vulcan entered, himself lost in thought.  Savar said exactly what was on his mind.  And Nevir couldn't explain it.  There were some elements that left no trace by design... those were mostly all banned in Federation space.

"No.. its only a piece of the puzzle.  And one that vanishes as soon as it is placed.  We need to see what the similarities are once we get to the next planet." he said, standing back up.  He shook his head.  "I don't like this, we already have the potential of a weapon that leaves no trace.  If we can't determine what to look for...." he let it trail off.  He stepped back completely and crossed his arms.

"We know who its not... the question is who it can be." he said, before turning and heading out of the room.  There wasn't much more he could do... so the Captain retired.

The next morning...

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The ship automatically dropped to impulse upon reaching the system.  The Captain was back in his seat as the planet came into visual range.  But once it did... he almost wish he didn't.  Instead of a dark spot on the planet, there was a small chunk of the planet separated from itself, slowly drifting away from its parent... at least until it lost its momentum and gravity took over.  There were also numerous micro tears in subspace; it was as if looking through a worn spot on fabric, just about to come apart.

"This is... this is worse." Nevir stated, as he stood up.  He walked a bit towards ops and helm, staring out the window.  "Commander... we have a serious situation on our hands.  Get your team and suit up.  Any evidence will most likely be in those chunks.  It looks like we upgraded from city killer, to continent killer."

[Bridge - USS Discovery, Previous Day]

"No apology needed, Captain," T'Lara said crisply as she took her seat. She raised an eyebrow at his news. Perhaps this had something to do with the phenomenon they'd seen planetside. They'd find out soon enough. When the captain left, she herself did what she could while looking at the samples remotely, but she also quickly hit a roadblock. This did not discourage or frustrate her, because she knew that all they needed was patience. Even so, the puzzle intrigued her enough to stay awake and on the Bridge for many more hours...

[Current Time]

Enough time had passed, in fact, that Alpha shift had returned and the captain was back in his chair.

"We have arrived at the planet, Captain," she reported as he entered. She gave no comment on his observation, which was accurate. It didn't elicit an emotional response from her, but she could feel the urgency at hand and was just as ready as the others to solve this mystery.

Once again she sent her team a comm, practically identical to the last. This time she added another member to the group, an Ensign Sugiyama whom she'd yet to meet personally. When the necessary hypos and suits were acquired, they were once again on a shuttle heading to the surface. However this one was even more unstable.

[Quote by Tekin Nevir]

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

As soon as the shuttle arrived, the Captain sighed at Don's report.  At least that was one issue taken care of.  "Alright Mr.  Adams, engage.  Keep us at low warp once we leave the system.  It will take longer, but that beats the alternative." he said, taking a seat.

"Have science begin their analysis of the samples from the first planet.  I have a distinct impression that we are going to find something similar when we get there." he said, checking his own mission clock.  At low warp, it would take some hours to get to the new location.  And the Captain could only hope that they would be able to catch something there.

[Bridge - USS Discovery]

When they had landed, T'Lara wasted no time in discarding her EV suit and dismissing the rest of the team before returning to the Bridge. She nodded to the captain when she entered and took her seat.

"Samples have been sent, Captain. I have assigned lieutenants Cadbury and Savar to head the analyses. Should be completed in three hours or less."

The Vulcan knew her captain trusted her to have everything handled, but in this instance she felt conversation was needed. She wasn't very good at it, so redundancy was the result. 

[Lieutenant JG Savar | Shuttle >- Planetside]

The journey down was uneventful. Savar watched with fascination as the shuttle flew through the atmosphere to the planet below. The closer they got to the blast zone, the more troubled he became. And when they arrived...He remembered an account given by an Academy classmate when his parents, freighter workers, survived a Borg attack on their colony simply because the ship they were shipping goods in an adjacent system and came back to find their colony...gone. Simply scooped away by the Borg. The description was so vivid in the poor boy's memory, the way his parents told it, he never forgot it, and Savar never forgot it, either. Looking at the blast zone, it was like looking at that, except it was a crater wherein the blast radius just simply vaporized everything in a spherical radius, even under the ground, almost exactly like if the Borg showed up and scooped everything away.

Nira would easily say it would be an ideal home for one of the creatures of Arabic mythology, thought Savar to himself. An ifrit, an evil djinn, she called it.

Stepping out, he heard Commander T'Lara's instructions and nodded vigorously in his EV suit. "You don't need to tell me twice, Commander." Besides, it'd be damn near impossible to miss the shuttle when there's a great deal of...nothing around.

Hoisting Nira's forensics kit on his side, Savar asked T'Lara, after she instructed Misters Gohun and Graham, "Anything you'd like me to look for in particular, Commander?"

[Quote by Alexander Graham]

[shuttle ""->planetside]

"œUnderstood Lieutenant Commander."

He got his own two vials and went to go get the samples that were required. He wasn't going to stray too far since he didn't want to get lost and he knew what he was looking for. He searched near the soil first for what he could use for the two samples of soil. He put the two samples that he found in the vials. He got the three samples of plant life or rocks that he found. He got the sample from the blast site and the area outside of it.

Gohun took a look around the area. There was nothing left. In the place of any life or civilization was deep craters. Gohun started to wonder what their last moments were like. Were they aware of their impending death. Did they understand how hopeless their situation was?

Gohun was so hypnotized by the landscape that he barely heard the orders. It was at that point that Gohun went to get the samples. Seeing that the immediate area was covered Gohun took his tricorder out and set it for continual scan. With that done he took his phaser out and set it to stun. Walking over the landscape was easy.
The only problem was the feeling of being watched. No matter how hard he tried Gohun could not shake the feeling of being watched. Looking around he gathered several samples. But needed two more. As Gohun walked he noted that the away team was spread out perfectly to be ambushed had there be any enemies in the area. it's a good thing they were alone.

[Planet Surface]

T'Lara raised an eyebrow at Savar's colloquialisms, but answered his question. "This area is undiscovered. Anything we collect will likely be of use. To answer your question fully, I would suggest you also look for anything in the blast zone that can tell us more about what happened."

She watched with approval as Gohun and Graham diligently set off on their task and kept an eye on the chronometer as she did her own investigating. The whole situation was one she was not entirely unfamiliar with. She had seen planets, civilizations destroyed before. This time felt just a tad bit eerie. Enough for her senses to be passively alert as she walked around and bent to take samples.

[Planet Surface - Black crater]

The carbon scoring on the planet gave a very dark, almost black appearance, but what was the most unusual was the absolute absence of a large section of the surface.  It would be impossible to really trace where everything was, however at the edge of the crater was evidence of pathways or streets; barely visible but nonetheless there.  There was a distinct lack of smoke or fires, indicative of an antimatter explosion.  Just inside the lip of the crater were streaks of a black crystalline layer, looking like it was flash-fused together in a glass-like lattice.  Further inside the crater were residual patters of eddies, as if the ground itself has been swirling like a liquid.  Their radiation monitors would go off within the last kilometer before the center; too dangerous to go in.

Above the crater, the atmosphere seemed to be warping around the area, giving the clouds an unusual appearance of being pulled and deflected around the crater and released on the other side.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

The interruption of the nurse walking on the bridge raised an eyebrow, and he turned around, standing up.  A missing animal was the last thing he wanted to deal with.  He looked between the two and sighed.  He had missed the first statement from Torra, but heard the second one.

"Do it." he stated, not looking away from the nurse.  He looked at Nira and then back again, and the look on his face showed that he was not pleased.  At this point, he looked downright intimidating.  "I can assure you there is nothing in my ready room that I have not personally placed there.  Miss Donaghue, while I am not against animals on my ship, I have only one rule; that animal not be loose on board.  And most definitely not in the essential sections of my ship. Find that animal before it gets into something its not supposed to." he stated, looking at both Nira and Kestra.

Sensors on the ship suddenly detected an energy wave incoming, and the Captain turned just to see a much paler light... with bright spots around the planet where subspace was affected.  On the planet, the flash wave raced across the surface harmlessly, but did give the away team a light show over the crater.  Just as soon as it was there, it was gone.

Nevir frowned; the away team hadn't finished their survey, but now they had a similar event happening somewhere else.  One was an accident; two....

"Discovery to away team; collect your samples and return to the ship.  We are leaving the system soon." 

"Mr. Adams, plot a course out of the system, and then get ready to set a course for the origin.  Torra, I need that origin as soon as possible."

As she got even closer to the blast zone, it was really a sight to behold. Almost reminiscent of her own planet with its muted colors. Remnants of the city were barely distinguishable now, artifacts basically nonexistent. If she had more time and a full team they could dig deep to see if anything remained underground, but they would have to settle for what they could pick up. The crystalline layer was fascinating and she gazed at it as she went further in, using its patterns and shapes to attempt to discern what kind of weapon had done this. When she had gone too far and her equipment beeped, she turned back and looked up at the clouds. The unusual images they were making in the sky as they were being pushed and pulled by the atmosphere also captured her attention. Then she witnessed the light, unlike some of the others this was the first time she'd seen it. She raised an eyebrow and decided that it may be wise to come back here to find out more. She would have stayed and watched for several more minutes in case the phenomenon happened again, but the comm stopped her.

"Acknowledged, Captain. T'Lara out." 

When she had gathered everybody, she led them to the shuttle and told Graham to take off as soon as they were ready.

[USS Discovery-Shuttlebay 1]

"œUnderstood lieutenant commander." He was prepared to take them out as soon as they were ready. During the preliminary checks he made sure that everything was going to be running smoothly for their mission. It was important that he made sure that there wasn't any issues that might pop up with the flight systems. He felt prepared for departure when the time was ready for them to leave.

[Deck 1 - Main Bridge - USS Discovery]

Nevir let out an exhale as the XO reported that they were ready.  Giving a nod that only the Bridge was privy to, the Captain updated something on his console, and gestured.

"Clear them for departure.  Keep a comm lock on the shuttle." he ordered, while finally sitting back.

"And now... we wait."

.... on the surface....

While turbulent, the ride itself from the ship to the planet would be relatively standard, and soon they found themselves nearing the region sized mark on the surface of the planet.  It was like day to night as they crossed into the blast zone, and while the radiation spiked, it was still within acceptable levels for this mission.

As they neared the center, the ground seemed to get lower as chunks were just... gone.  Ripped away or atomized. Ahead they could see what looked like a city, of what could have been a city.  There were very few signs of man-made objects left.

[Shuttle --> Planetside]

T'Lara did not have much to say as Graham took them down to the planet. There was a bit more turbulence than usual, but she held herself steady through it as they neared the blast zone and landed.

"Remember everyone, we have one hour," she stated as she climbed out of the shuttle and took out her tricorder. "Do not stray too far, for in case you get lost and are in need of an inoculation."

Looking around, she noticed she was nearest to Gohun and Graham. "I would like each of you to take five samples. Two of the samples will be of the soil, one sample from directly within the blast zone and the other located further outside of it. The other three samples will be of other plant life or rocks you find."

After she said this, she took out her own vials for collection and began searching.

[USS Discovery-Shuttlebay 1]

"œAye lieutenant commander T'lara." He understood what he had to do and he went to the sickbay so that he could get the inoculation from a medical officer. Afterwards he went to shuttlebay one to be equipped with the EV suit and the standard weapons. He figured that they were probably going to find out what risk they were going to be dealing with.

[Shuttlebay 1 - USS Discovery]

[As NPC Lt JG (Nurse Practioner) Kestra Donaghue]

"Apologies, Dr. Yona is rather tied up at the moment, he hoped to be down in time and if he makes it before the shuttlecraft departs... he still will be part of the away team." Kestra said running in breathlessly.

"In the meantime, you've got me.  Has everyone had their inoculations, I brought spares in case!"

Discovery Sickbay

"Ta Li Yo-na to away  team I have finished with my very difficult and talkative patient and I will be along shortly" 

The Dr took a few deep breaths looked at his blue sidekick and said "I have to go from a while but if you want some company I'm sure the Cadet will be happy to see you"

Then he made his way out of Sickbay

[Sickbay]

"thanks Luby I nearly forgot and not to many treats" the dr called over his shoulder and made his way to the Shuttlebay

[Shuttlebay 1]

The Dr rushed into the room "I haven't missed it have I" he asked and quickly stood up straight and addressed Lt commander T'Lara and apologised profusely for the tardy time keeping "Dr Ta Li Yo-na reporting for duty sir"

[Shuttlebay 1 - USS Discovery]

T'Lara nodded to acknowledge the arrival of Graham, and raised an eyebrow when Donaghue came after him.

"I suppose, if-"

She was cut off by Yo-Na's comm. His words describing his patient seemed a tad unprofessional to her, but that was something for his supervisor to know, not him. She wasn't going to acknowledge it in front of the others when he got here, as that would also be unprofessional.

"Acknowledged, Ensign. 

When the towering figure lumbered in to grace them with his presence, she held a hand up to stop him. "Save your words, Ensign. I would like to leave as soon as possible. Donaghue, you are dismissed." She stepped back slightly to address all of them. "As mentioned in the communications sent to each of you, we are going down to the planet to complete an initial observation of the area. This should take no more than an hour, but if circumstances require us to stay for a longer duration Ensign Yo-Na should have brought additional inoculations." She placed her focus on Savar for the next part, but the message was still meant for everyone. General scans of the flora and fauna, air quality and composition will be completed and a standard amount of samples taken. Any questions?" After addressing any inquiries, she sent a comm to Tekin.

"T'Lara to Captain Tekin. Away team is now present and accounted for. We will be taking off presently. T'Lara out."

They all piled into the shuttlecraft and Graham began the preliminary checks. T'Lara sat beside him and assumed the copilot position. "Take us out as soon as we are ready," she ordered.

Hello all! We have a May POTM to submit! Please record your selections here. You can choose any Discovery post written during the month of May.