S:5 E:16 - A Doomsday Like Any Other

[Nira Said]

[Bridge/ Deck One/ USS Challenger]

Aarwendil yelped when he heard Commander Said's voice next to him, the woman could be so stealthy when she wanted. Or perhaps it was because the young Betazoid was still ashamed of what had happened between them in Andgarr. While he wasn't afraid of talking to her anymore, the Ensign couldn't avoid thinking how he acted improperly. However, with a doomsday machine coming, the effect of the yanmarr pollen was the least of what he should think about at the moment.

"œI only hope that we can evacuate the maximum number of people possible." if they couldn't find another way of stopping the machine, this was the only thing that they could do. Then he remembered something. "œCommander, is there a way that we can find if Nekab's mother is out of Andgarr? He didn't show it, but I felt that he was concerned with her. She was among the Unificationists, but I don't know if they already left."

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira smiled warmly, sisterly. And the mention of Nekab did make her realize about the Unification Movement. In all the excitement, there was no realization about them...

"I'll see if I can have Commander Catalan inquire about where she is," said Nira. She was about to ask Commander Catalan when he called out something with the device...

[Cargo Bay Three - USS Challenger]

Randall poured over the data Neva had collected and ran an additional focused tricorder scan of his own before doing some calculations in his head that he had Lieutenant Fisk verify before he spoke.

"I do like the idea that using the buttons would leave traces. However, it is unknown if the beings that made this thing even had fingers as we know them, I did pick up trace markings of silicates in varying amounts on the buttons. Combining those findings with that of Ensign Cordon's work, I am ready to make an educated guess at the correct order."

He tapped his combadge before he touched the probe.

"Randall to bridge, we are ready to try to access the probe, standby to beam it into space if we get it wrong."

Everyone in the cargo bay held their breath collectively as Randall pressed the buttons firmly and decisively in the order suggested by their findings. When he pressed the third button there was a pause before everyone's tricorder lit up as the probe began broadcasting a coded subspace signal in a cyclic pattern that repeated every 2.7 seconds. What this meant, no one in the cargo bay knew.

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

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The Challenger, along with the seven Romulan ships some 500,000 kilometers behind continued their slow advance out system as the Doomsday Machine maintained its own steady course toward Angdarr Prime. Two hours, just two hours before the Machine reached the planet. The tiny ships arrayed to face it would intercept the behemoth in just half that time. Tensions were high on the Bridge as Ian wracked his brain for options he knew he didn't have. It was then when Catalan spoke.

"Sir, I am detecting a signal originating from the Machine. It matches the same low ban of the subspace spectrum as the one being broadcast from Cargo Bay Three. It doesn't appear they are exchanging data as they are just repeating the same subspace pulses."

Ian arched an eyebrow at this information as it seemed to represent progress, it just wasn't clear just what sort of progress had been made.

"It somehow seems like I've seen summat like it before. Anyone recognize that type of signal?"

Nira heard the signal being sent between the probe and the Machine going. When Captain Galloway mentioned it, she craned her ear to hear.

"It definitely does seem familiar, but I can't recall where," she said. She put herself up next to Commander Catalan, got a good look at the signal, and then said quietly, "Oh, Commander, when you have a moment, can you transmit a hail down to Old Angdarr down at Andgarr Prime, and keep an eye out for any Romulan frequencies. If you get one, send it to my chair. When you have a moment, that is."

And she returned to her chair and awaited what will happen next.

[{NPC} Lieutenant Savar | Cargo Bay Three | Deck Six | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Of course, Lieutenant Randall," said Savar. "I leave the honors, as Ensign Cordon indicated, up to you."

Nothing destructive occurred, but there was a definite signal going out. Savar raised an eyebrow and wondered what was going on. Did the Machine receive? Was there communication?

[Abas Th'vyrrol]

[Sickbay]

The situation in Sickbay was still incredibly tense. While Doctor Fellows had attempted to stand up to the hostage takers, she had been verbally rebuffed by the intruders. The disruptor blast had undoubtedly set off security alerts, and the crew would be taking appropriate action. Abas had not been able to make contact with anyone outside of Sickbay yet, but he was familiar with Starfleet operating procedures. They'd be planning an operation to liberate the ward, it was just a matter of providing an opening.

Thankfully, it seemed someone who was more brains than brawn had entered the picture on the side of the hostage takers. A Nausicaan woman had arrived and given the medical personnel permission to treat the wounded officer. It seemed they wanted to avoid additional bloodshed, which was a relief. The last thing anyone needed was Sickbay to become a shooting gallery. However... maybe there was something he could do.

The mood in the ward was somber, with the staff predominantly keeping their heads down and continuing their work. Even with the emergency, the patients still needed to be attended to. That didn't mean they would help their adversaries, though. They were likely waiting for an opportune moment to strike... and only needed an opening. A distraction of sorts could do the trick, and hopefully prevent anyone from taking further casualties. Abas would still much prefer the attackers to be taken alive... but he had an even greater duty to his shipmates.

He maintained his station by the wounded schoolteacher, monitoring her recovery and treatment. But perhaps... if her condition took a sudden and inexplicable turn for the worse...

Abas tapped quietly on a console next to him, pulling up one of the medical test programs used for training. A few short alterations, a little covert sabotage, and a knowledge of the medical system allowed him to trick the computer into thinking his patient had suffered a catastrophic cortical failure. Enough to set off every single alarm the bio-bed was capable of triggering. It should be quite noisy... as long as nobody looked too close. If anyone did notice, however, Abas only hoped he could pass it off as instrumentation failure.

Two minutes later, right on cue, as Abas had conveniently found himself a few strides away from the patient, the system indicated several simultaneous failures and triggered the patient alarms. A pitched beeping, followed by a low-toned whine indicated the patient's status, as Abas strode back over to the patient with speed. "Doctor?" he spoke, contorting his face into a look of concern as he busied himself with causing as much of a scene as he could while still appearing natural.

Hopefully, someone could use it. At the very least, it would keep the hostage-takers off-balance.

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 7 - Sickbay (main room)] [15:10-ish]

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

Zorr looked up from Chloe for a moment and said.

"Tricorder says she's stunned. That damned disruptor caused some second degree burns. If you hand me that hypospray and dermal regenerator off that tray Chief, I believe she will be fine."

Lahr followed Zorr's gaze towards the tray mentioned and picked up the two items and brought the over to the doctor.  The Andorian was relieved that Chloe was just stunned.  Knowing that Abas was attempting to stay hidden, Lahr tried to keep attention on himself as much as possible.

"Hey, any chance you guys are working with Cloten?" Lahr did a name drop, while at the same time taunting them with an insult.  "This sort of third rate planning seems like it would be right up his alley."

[Sickbay]

The situation in Sickbay was still incredibly tense. While Doctor Fellows had attempted to stand up to the hostage takers, she had been verbally rebuffed by the intruders. The disruptor blast had undoubtedly set off security alerts, and the crew would be taking appropriate action. Abas had not been able to make contact with anyone outside of Sickbay yet, but he was familiar with Starfleet operating procedures. They'd be planning an operation to liberate the ward, it was just a matter of providing an opening.

Thankfully, it seemed someone who was more brains than brawn had entered the picture on the side of the hostage takers. A Nausicaan woman had arrived and given the medical personnel permission to treat the wounded officer. It seemed they wanted to avoid additional bloodshed, which was a relief. The last thing anyone needed was Sickbay to become a shooting gallery. However... maybe there was something he could do.

The mood in the ward was somber, with the staff predominantly keeping their heads down and continuing their work. Even with the emergency, the patients still needed to be attended to. That didn't mean they would help their adversaries, though. They were likely waiting for an opportune moment to strike... and only needed an opening. A distraction of sorts could do the trick, and hopefully prevent anyone from taking further casualties. Abas would still much prefer the attackers to be taken alive... but he had an even greater duty to his shipmates.

He maintained his station by the wounded schoolteacher, monitoring her recovery and treatment. But perhaps... if her condition took a sudden and inexplicable turn for the worse...

Abas tapped quietly on a console next to him, pulling up one of the medical test programs used for training. A few short alterations, a little covert sabotage, and a knowledge of the medical system allowed him to trick the computer into thinking his patient had suffered a catastrophic cortical failure. Enough to set off every single alarm the bio-bed was capable of triggering. It should be quite noisy... as long as nobody looked too close. If anyone did notice, however, Abas only hoped he could pass it off as instrumentation failure.

Two minutes later, right on cue, as Abas had conveniently found himself a few strides away from the patient, the system indicated several simultaneous failures and triggered the patient alarms. A pitched beeping, followed by a low-toned whine indicated the patient's status, as Abas strode back over to the patient with speed. "Doctor?" he spoke, contorting his face into a look of concern as he busied himself with causing as much of a scene as he could while still appearing natural.

Hopefully, someone could use it. At the very least, it would keep the hostage-takers off-balance.

A sudden chorus of alarms sounded from the civilian schoolteacher's biobed and Lahr's antennae leaned away from the cacophony.  It was then that he noticed the Aenar calling for the doctor.  When had he come out of hiding?

His musings about the Aenar however were put on the backburner when he noticed that the two nausicaans searching the room had their attention on the sudden activity of the doctors.  Oh perfect distraction.   Lahr subtly backed away from cluster of medical staff responding to critical patient.  He backed himself toward the Sickbay's jefferies tube wall panel access.

He watched to see how much attention the Orion woman was giving him, and when she too looked towards   medical emergency, he slipped his hand into his toolbelt and felt around for the necessary driver bit needed to loosen the wall panel fasteners, and palmed it into his hand.   The former security crewman, knew his buddies would be looking for a way to make a quick entrance when they did finally get the go-ahead to breach, so if Lahr could loosen the panel, that would make their job so much easier.

[Ian Galloway]

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira smiled warmly, sisterly. And the mention of Nekab did make her realize about the Unification Movement. In all the excitement, there was no realization about them...

"I'll see if I can have Commander Catalan inquire about where she is," said Nira. She was about to ask Commander Catalan when he called out something with the device...
Nira heard the signal being sent between the probe and the Machine going. When Captain Galloway mentioned it, she craned her ear to hear.

"It definitely does seem familiar, but I can't recall where," she said. She put herself up next to Commander Catalan, got a good look at the signal, and then said quietly, "Oh, Commander, when you have a moment, can you transmit a hail down to Old Angdarr down at Andgarr Prime, and keep an eye out for any Romulan frequencies. If you get one, send it to my chair. When you have a moment, that is."

And she returned to her chair and awaited what will happen next.

[{NPC} Lieutenant Savar | Cargo Bay Three | Deck Six | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

"Of course, Lieutenant Randall," said Savar. "I leave the honors, as Ensign Cordon indicated, up to you."

Nothing destructive occurred, but there was a definite signal going out. Savar raised an eyebrow and wondered what was going on. Did the Machine receive? Was there communication?

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The signal the probe was sending and the response from the Machine was tantalizingly familiar and Ian felt taunted by a notion that danced just beyond his grasp of becoming an actual thought.

"What is it about this bloody sequence? Message, acknowledged over and over. Ping and Pong. Sent and received. Wait, sent and received. I am me, I understand. Who goes there? Friend! That's it!"

Ian sprang from the command chair to stand between Catalan and Cheizex at Ops.

"Have either of you heard of IFF? Identification friend or foe, it was a means of determinin' if'n a target was friendly or hostile when sensors of the time, mostly radar existed. I think this probe is a way ta tell the Machine ta nae fire on a target."

Ian turned to his first officer.

"Nira, get down ta the shuttlebay. Take the Mjolnir as she's the most resilient small craft we have. Take as many engineers and science as you deem fittin', Obviously, nae more than the six the Delta Flyer can carry.

"Once you are away, beam the probe aboard and approach the 50,000 kilometer range of the Machine. I ken full well how dangerous this is, so the Challenger will be ready with weapons hot ta cover you should the Beastie fire on you. But if'n I'm right, we may have a means ta protect Angdarr Prime."

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

[Sickbay]

The situation in Sickbay was still incredibly tense. While Doctor Fellows had attempted to stand up to the hostage takers, she had been verbally rebuffed by the intruders. The disruptor blast had undoubtedly set off security alerts, and the crew would be taking appropriate action. Abas had not been able to make contact with anyone outside of Sickbay yet, but he was familiar with Starfleet operating procedures. They'd be planning an operation to liberate the ward, it was just a matter of providing an opening.

Thankfully, it seemed someone who was more brains than brawn had entered the picture on the side of the hostage takers. A Nausicaan woman had arrived and given the medical personnel permission to treat the wounded officer. It seemed they wanted to avoid additional bloodshed, which was a relief. The last thing anyone needed was Sickbay to become a shooting gallery. However... maybe there was something he could do.

The mood in the ward was somber, with the staff predominantly keeping their heads down and continuing their work. Even with the emergency, the patients still needed to be attended to. That didn't mean they would help their adversaries, though. They were likely waiting for an opportune moment to strike... and only needed an opening. A distraction of sorts could do the trick, and hopefully prevent anyone from taking further casualties. Abas would still much prefer the attackers to be taken alive... but he had an even greater duty to his shipmates.

He maintained his station by the wounded schoolteacher, monitoring her recovery and treatment. But perhaps... if her condition took a sudden and inexplicable turn for the worse...

Abas tapped quietly on a console next to him, pulling up one of the medical test programs used for training. A few short alterations, a little covert sabotage, and a knowledge of the medical system allowed him to trick the computer into thinking his patient had suffered a catastrophic cortical failure. Enough to set off every single alarm the bio-bed was capable of triggering. It should be quite noisy... as long as nobody looked too close. If anyone did notice, however, Abas only hoped he could pass it off as instrumentation failure.

Two minutes later, right on cue, as Abas had conveniently found himself a few strides away from the patient, the system indicated several simultaneous failures and triggered the patient alarms. A pitched beeping, followed by a low-toned whine indicated the patient's status, as Abas strode back over to the patient with speed. "Doctor?" he spoke, contorting his face into a look of concern as he busied himself with causing as much of a scene as he could while still appearing natural.

Hopefully, someone could use it. At the very least, it would keep the hostage-takers off-balance.

CPO ShranLahr ch'Verret
[USS Challenger-A - Deck 7 - Sickbay (main room)] [15:10-ish]

Lahr followed Zorr's gaze towards the tray mentioned and picked up the two items and brought the over to the doctor.  The Andorian was relieved that Chloe was just stunned.  Knowing that Abas was attempting to stay hidden, Lahr tried to keep attention on himself as much as possible.

"Hey, any chance you guys are working with Cloten?" Lahr did a name drop, while at the same time taunting them with an insult.  "This sort of third rate planning seems like it would be right up his alley."

A sudden chorus of alarms sounded from the civilian schoolteacher's biobed and Lahr's antennae leaned away from the cacophony.  It was then that he noticed the Aenar calling for the doctor.  When had he come out of hiding?

His musings about the Aenar however were put on the backburner when he noticed that the two nausicaans searching the room had their attention on the sudden activity of the doctors.  Oh perfect distraction.   Lahr subtly backed away from cluster of medical staff responding to critical patient.  He backed himself toward the Sickbay's jefferies tube wall panel access.

He watched to see how much attention the Orion woman was giving him, and when she too looked towards   medical emergency, he slipped his hand into his toolbelt and felt around for the necessary driver bit needed to loosen the wall panel fasteners, and palmed it into his hand.   The former security crewman, knew his buddies would be looking for a way to make a quick entrance when they did finally get the go-ahead to breach, so if Lahr could loosen the panel, that would make their job so much easier.

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

When the biobed began its shrill alarms, every weapon in sickbay pointed in that direction, but with the admonition from Ojegar fresh on their mind, none of the intruders fired, even when Jess surged toward the patient. As she worked, her eyes never left the injured woman as she snarled.

"I would appreciate you pointing those weapons anywhere but at my patient, she is clearly not a threat and I'm not a fan of gunpoint medicine."

The goons were taken aback and looked to the old Nausicaan, who nodded and the weapons were lowered. With the attention focused well away from the Jeffries tube access, it was now Zhuk's call to decide if they would breach and who would take point if they did.

[Nira Said]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

The signal the probe was sending and the response from the Machine was tantalizingly familiar and Ian felt taunted by a notion that danced just beyond his grasp of becoming an actual thought.

"What is it about this bloody sequence? Message, acknowledged over and over. Ping and Pong. Sent and received. Wait, sent and received. I am me, I understand. Who goes there? Friend! That's it!"

Ian sprang from the command chair to stand between Catalan and Cheizex at Ops.

"Have either of you heard of IFF? Identification friend or foe, it was a means of determinin' if'n a target was friendly or hostile when sensors of the time, mostly radar existed. I think this probe is a way ta tell the Machine ta nae fire on a target."

Ian turned to his first officer.

"Nira, get down ta the shuttlebay. Take the Mjolnir as she's the most resilient small craft we have. Take as many engineers and science as you deem fittin', Obviously, nae more than the six the Delta Flyer can carry.

"Once you are away, beam the probe aboard and approach the 50,000 kilometer range of the Machine. I ken full well how dangerous this is, so the Challenger will be ready with weapons hot ta cover you should the Beastie fire on you. But if'n I'm right, we may have a means ta protect Angdarr Prime."

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

When Ian finally placed where he heard the signal before, Nira was taken aback. IFF?

"IFF? I never heard of it! I had assumed the Machine was transmitting Morse Code, but..."

But when Ian mentioned about that the Machine was trying to acknowledge the probe, Nira grinned. "Holy Allah, you may be right, Captain!" she said. "And it would be more than just a means of telling the Machine not to fire; that probe sounds like it's the means to control the machine! A perfect way to defend ourselves against future powerful hostiles like the Borg and the Dominion! And it could prove advantageous if Unimatrices and cubes are assembled by the Borg if the core worlds of the Federation have fallen. It's just as well that stupid dog O'Flaherty hasn't realized that."

At her orders, Nira nodded. "Aye, sir. Mister Espada, Ensign Cheizex, with me."

She tapped her comm badge as she left with Aarwendil and Hector and said, "Ensigns Cordon, Zalos and Avant, report to the Mjolnir in the shuttlebay."

[Aarwendil Cheizex]

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

Nira smiled warmly, sisterly. And the mention of Nekab did make her realize about the Unification Movement. In all the excitement, there was no realization about them...

"I'll see if I can have Commander Catalan inquire about where she is," said Nira. She was about to ask Commander Catalan when he called out something with the device...
Nira heard the signal being sent between the probe and the Machine going. When Captain Galloway mentioned it, she craned her ear to hear.

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

When Ian finally placed where he heard the signal before, Nira was taken aback. IFF?

"IFF? I never heard of it! I had assumed the Machine was transmitting Morse Code, but..."

But when Ian mentioned about that the Machine was trying to acknowledge the probe, Nira grinned. "Holy Allah, you may be right, Captain!" she said. "And it would be more than just a means of telling the Machine not to fire; that probe sounds like it's the means to control the machine! A perfect way to defend ourselves against future powerful hostiles like the Borg and the Dominion! And it could prove advantageous if Unimatrices and cubes are assembled by the Borg if the core worlds of the Federation have fallen. It's just as well that stupid dog O'Flaherty hasn't realized that."

At her orders, Nira nodded. "Aye, sir. Mister Espada, Ensign Cheizex, with me."

She tapped her comm badge as she left with Aarwendil and Hector and said, "Ensigns Cordon, Zalos and Avant, report to the Mjolnir in the shuttlebay."

[Bridge/ Deck One/ USS Challenger]

The young Betazoid smiled. "œThank you, Commander. I'll tell Nekab about it later."  he hoped that the Romulan mother and the other members of the Unification Movement would have left Andgarr already. Aarwendil wondered if one of the reasons why the doomsday machine was sent to the planet was because of their presence. Of course, it would depend if the Tal Shiar was the one behind it.

While he waited for an answer about the Romulans' whereabouts, Aarwendil remained working at his station, only stopping when Nira called for him. He was still reluctant to go with her after the events with the yanmarr, but he needed to fulfill his duty. Due to that, the Ensign left his seat and walked toward the Commander.

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Lieutenant Zhukdra'shar Mrekrerhas | Cargo Bay I --> Jefferies Tubes | Deck Six --> Deck Seven | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A | Angdarr System]

"Understood Captain Galloway. Then the Teams shalt proceed with our current data set. If we have a dire need for an asset, you shalt be the first to be informed,"  Zhuk swiftly answered Ian, as he crossed the door that led into the Jefferies Tubes, closing it after him, with all of Team Beta inside. Before he proceeded any further, he tapped on his comm badge again, "Team Alpha, we are cleared to proceed. There is no new information on this situation. Excercise caution."=/\=

[Jeffries Tubes Outside Sickbay - USS Challenger]

Having reached their destination, undetected so far as they could tell, Zhuk and his team prepared to force entry. The biggest concern was the small opening of the Jeffries tube meant they faced an extreme form of the 'fatal funnel' that all points of entry created in that they could only enter one at a time whereas the defenders had open fields of fire and movement. Unfortunately, their options were limited and it meant the first couple people through the hatch were at the highest risk. This presented Zhuk with a difficult choice. Did he take point, not willing to send someone to do something he himself would not do, but in so doing risk the leadership and stall the assault? Or, did he send in one of the other members of the team knowing their odds of survival were low? It was at times like this that Zhuk hated being in charge.

"What to do? What to do?"

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

Zala fiddled with the door controls for a couple of minutes, until she let out a soft coo in delight. Zhuk squinted her eyes at her, though ultimately did not reprimand her. She had done a good job, and fortunately, she had not noticed his expression, "Alright... I just need to pull on this cable... and bam! We are in!"

Zhuk nodded at her, though took a moment to answer. In the time that had taken Zala to access the controls, he had changed his mind on the plan. It was unlikely that, even if the two were rather sneaky about it, they would be able to escape detection for long within the cramped areas of the Sickbay. And with him and Zala captured "" or worse, which would benefit no one, especially not his officers.

"Excellent work. Change of plans, however. We shalt return and get the rest of the team here. Understood?" He whispered at Zala, which proceeded to take a deep breath but approved ultimately.

The trip back and the one to return was uneventful, as the Security members moved carefully through out of the Jefferies tubes, and then back towards the door. Tension, even without being a Betazoid, was palpable in the air, but fortunately, Zhuk's tactic had proven effective, unknowingly, as they missed Hojik exiting Sickbay to return to the ship. Thus, they still had the element of surprise with them.

Still, Zhuk stopped just at the gates, as he decided how to approach the situation. He knew that he could either lead the attack, which would place him at risk, or have one of his officers make such an attempt. Truly, he felt that the people needed his leadership. His guidance. But then again, he was no coward. And many lives had been lost already. He had no family, or at least, he had none to return to.

Most likely no one would cry for him if he fell in combat.

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

When the biobed began its shrill alarms, every weapon in sickbay pointed in that direction, but with the admonition from Ojegar fresh on their mind, none of the intruders fired, even when Jess surged toward the patient. As she worked, her eyes never left the injured woman as she snarled.

"I would appreciate you pointing those weapons anywhere but at my patient, she is clearly not a threat and I'm not a fan of gunpoint medicine."

The goons were taken aback and looked to the old Nausicaan, who nodded and the weapons were lowered. With the attention focused well away from the Jeffries tube access, it was now Zhuk's call to decide if they would breach and who would take point if they did.

The alarm made Zhuk's ears swish in its direction, and at that moment, he realized that he could not plan much longer. The sound had most likely been a distraction, either purposeful or not, which he needed to use. He finally took a decision,

"I shalt proceed first. Provide me with cover fire, and attempt to seek to shield yourselves. Excercise caution, forth there are innocents within,"

All in agreement, the Ferengi opened the door, as Zhuk poured in, followed by the rest of Alpha Team. He tried to reduce his profile as much as possible to keep himself from being an easy target. Beams set to stun flew from his phaser rifle, targeting perhaps what he unconsciously felt to be the biggest danger to the operation: the Orion animal woman. Perhaps, it had been the fact that her pheromones tickled at his nostrils. Or just he did not like Orions at all, but whatever was the case, two beams impacted her, one in the upper chest, and another in the left leg.

He then aimed towards the Nausicaans, firing once more, though if he could score a hit on them would be seen, as they replied in kind...

[Kyan Mackenzie]

"˜what the hell do you think is going on?' was what he thought he signed, but who knows what Kyan actually got from it.

When he heard the disruptor, Kyan's first instinct was to go out and see what was happening. But before he could even fish his backup phaser from his ankle holster, Jalen had locked the door. Given the fact that there were six kindergarteners in the room with them, Kyan knew that Jalen had done the right thing for himself and them. But there was a part of him that bristled at the doctor's taking charge.... no, not taking charge... keeping him from jumping into the action.

Looking over at the El-Aurian, Kyan couldn't help but giggle. He remembered that some of the Onlies in his camp had adopted hand signs to communicate, usually when they needed to sneak around, but he didn't remember much of it. He figured Jalen had the same problem.... because one of the few things he did remember was the sign for girls, and he was fairly sure that it wasn't a pack of girls shooting up the sickbay. After he'd laughed, Kyan shrugged in reply to his question.

After a few minutes had gone by with no further shots fired, Kyan was beginning to think it might have been nothing. But then he heard the wail of the biobed alarm. And that was followed by more weapons fire, both phasers and disruptors. Kyan motioned for Jalen to lean down so he could speak to him. When he did, Kyan whispered in his ear.

"I need tae go an see. You let me out an then lock it back behind me. He could tell that the old doctor was reticent, but he nodded anyway. Kyan drew his backup phaser and stood by the door. "Ok" he said.

"Hey! Where are you going?" the little boy on the table piped up. The others chimed in with their concerns as well. Kyan looked at Jalen, and then over to the kids.

"Well, I gotta go and see about the others out there." he offered casually. "So you lot stay here with Doctor Kartos the now, an I'll be back in a minute."

"Well we wanna see too!" the boy complained. "We can help!"

Kyan looked up at Jalen, who hit the door panel. The sounds of competing weapons fore were louder now, and intermingled with shouting. Kyan stepped out into the corridor and the door hissed shut behind him. No sooner than it had, a strong hand grabbed the back of Kyan's shirt and lifted him off the deck.

"What's this...."

The question was answered when the Onlie shifted his weight to his right and pointed his phaser up and behind him, catching the Nausicaan under the chin. He grunted and fell to the deck, unconscious... or dead. At that range, even the stun setting could be lethal. Kyan dropped back down in a crouch before standing up. "Piss haid Nausicaans." he swore. "It figures that!"

When he turned around to head toward the main sickbay, a beam caught him in the chest, sending him backwards. He landed in a heap on top of the Nausicaan that he'd shot.

He then aimed towards the Nausicaans, firing once more, though if he could score a hit on them would be seen, as they replied in kind...[/color]

Ojegar had followed Doctor Fellows over to the bed to see what was happening with the patient. He was next to her when the security team had entered. His first instinct had been to fight them off but the old Nausicaan knew that this would only result in more injuries, and that wasn't his goal.

When he saw the Orion woman drop he grabbed Fellows around the neck from behind and trained his disruptor on her. "Stand down!" he ordered. "I do not wish further injuries."

[Ian Galloway]

[Commander Nira Said | Bridge | Deck One | USS Challenger NCC-40117-A]

When Ian finally placed where he heard the signal before, Nira was taken aback. IFF?

"IFF? I never heard of it! I had assumed the Machine was transmitting Morse Code, but..."

But when Ian mentioned about that the Machine was trying to acknowledge the probe, Nira grinned. "Holy Allah, you may be right, Captain!" she said. "And it would be more than just a means of telling the Machine not to fire; that probe sounds like it's the means to control the machine! A perfect way to defend ourselves against future powerful hostiles like the Borg and the Dominion! And it could prove advantageous if Unimatrices and cubes are assembled by the Borg if the core worlds of the Federation have fallen. It's just as well that stupid dog O'Flaherty hasn't realized that."

At her orders, Nira nodded. "Aye, sir. Mister Espada, Ensign Cheizex, with me."

She tapped her comm badge as she left with Aarwendil and Hector and said, "Ensigns Cordon, Zalos and Avant, report to the Mjolnir in the shuttlebay."

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian watched the display on the arm of his command chair intently as the Mjolnir launched. Espada requested and acknowledged the transport of the probe onto the shuttle and it accelerated to intercept the Doomsday Machine. The Challenger matched the short hop to warp speed to reach the Machine as far from Angdarr Prime as possible, but that was still inside the orbit of Angdarr V, far too close in Ian's mind for comfort.

Ordering red alert and battlestations, the Challenger was 100,000 kilometers behind the Mjolnir, while the still silent Romulans remained trailing at a safe 500,000 kilometers behind Challenger. The Mjolnir closed steadily and soon entered the critical 50,000 kilometer response range of the Machine and... nothing! The massive weapon didn't fire. The probe did function as the IFF device Ian had hoped it was. However, before anyone could celebrate, Randall, who had returned to the bridge and was at the Science One station called out.

"Captain, a tractor has locked onto the Mjolnir!"

"What?"

"Wait, it's not the main tractor, this one emanates from aft on the Machine, they are being pulled toward a sort of plateau near the tractor emitter."

Every fiber of Ian's being cried out to open fire and swoop in to save the away team, but he forced himself to remain calm. Although alarming, the tractor was not an actual threat, yet. Steeling himself, he said.

"Let it play out."

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

[Mjolnir - Angdarr System]

When the tractor locked on, Espada initially attempted to break free, but after it became apparent they weren't being dragged into the maw curiosity took over and Nira allowed them to be pulled where the Machine was taking them. A close scan of the area of the plateau Challenger had detected found a small conical depression of slightly over a meter appeared. Next that was a circular bulge of neutronium that appeared to be a hatch of some kind.

The probe then began to emit a signal different from the one it had been sending and it was clear that the device was interacting with the Machine. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing was, as yet, unknown.

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

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

Zala fiddled with the door controls for a couple of minutes, until she let out a soft coo in delight. Zhuk squinted her eyes at her, though ultimately did not reprimand her. She had done a good job, and fortunately, she had not noticed his expression, "Alright... I just need to pull on this cable... and bam! We are in!"

Zhuk nodded at her, though took a moment to answer. In the time that had taken Zala to access the controls, he had changed his mind on the plan. It was unlikely that, even if the two were rather sneaky about it, they would be able to escape detection for long within the cramped areas of the Sickbay. And with him and Zala captured "" or worse, which would benefit no one, especially not his officers.

"Excellent work. Change of plans, however. We shalt return and get the rest of the team here. Understood?" He whispered at Zala, which proceeded to take a deep breath but approved ultimately.

The trip back and the one to return was uneventful, as the Security members moved carefully through out of the Jefferies tubes, and then back towards the door. Tension, even without being a Betazoid, was palpable in the air, but fortunately, Zhuk's tactic had proven effective, unknowingly, as they missed Hojik exiting Sickbay to return to the ship. Thus, they still had the element of surprise with them.

Still, Zhuk stopped just at the gates, as he decided how to approach the situation. He knew that he could either lead the attack, which would place him at risk, or have one of his officers make such an attempt. Truly, he felt that the people needed his leadership. His guidance. But then again, he was no coward. And many lives had been lost already. He had no family, or at least, he had none to return to.

Most likely no one would cry for him if he fell in combat.

The alarm made Zhuk's ears swish in its direction, and at that moment, he realized that he could not plan much longer. The sound had most likely been a distraction, either purposeful or not, which he needed to use. He finally took a decision,

"I shalt proceed first. Provide me with cover fire, and attempt to seek to shield yourselves. Excercise caution, forth there are innocents within,"

All in agreement, the Ferengi opened the door, as Zhuk poured in, followed by the rest of Alpha Team. He tried to reduce his profile as much as possible to keep himself from being an easy target. Beams set to stun flew from his phaser rifle, targeting perhaps what he unconsciously felt to be the biggest danger to the operation: the Orion animal woman. Perhaps, it had been the fact that her pheromones tickled at his nostrils. Or just he did not like Orions at all, but whatever was the case, two beams impacted her, one in the upper chest, and another in the left leg.

He then aimed towards the Nausicaans, firing once more, though if he could score a hit on them would be seen, as they replied in kind...

When he heard the disruptor, Kyan's first instinct was to go out and see what was happening. But before he could even fish his backup phaser from his ankle holster, Jalen had locked the door. Given the fact that there were six kindergarteners in the room with them, Kyan knew that Jalen had done the right thing for himself and them. But there was a part of him that bristled at the doctor's taking charge.... no, not taking charge... keeping him from jumping into the action.

Looking over at the El-Aurian, Kyan couldn't help but giggle. He remembered that some of the Onlies in his camp had adopted hand signs to communicate, usually when they needed to sneak around, but he didn't remember much of it. He figured Jalen had the same problem.... because one of the few things he did remember was the sign for girls, and he was fairly sure that it wasn't a pack of girls shooting up the sickbay. After he'd laughed, Kyan shrugged in reply to his question.

After a few minutes had gone by with no further shots fired, Kyan was beginning to think it might have been nothing. But then he heard the wail of the biobed alarm. And that was followed by more weapons fire, both phasers and disruptors. Kyan motioned for Jalen to lean down so he could speak to him. When he did, Kyan whispered in his ear.

"I need tae go an see. You let me out an then lock it back behind me. He could tell that the old doctor was reticent, but he nodded anyway. Kyan drew his backup phaser and stood by the door. "Ok" he said.

"Hey! Where are you going?" the little boy on the table piped up. The others chimed in with their concerns as well. Kyan looked at Jalen, and then over to the kids.

"Well, I gotta go and see about the others out there." he offered casually. "So you lot stay here with Doctor Kartos the now, an I'll be back in a minute."

"Well we wanna see too!" the boy complained. "We can help!"

Kyan looked up at Jalen, who hit the door panel. The sounds of competing weapons fore were louder now, and intermingled with shouting. Kyan stepped out into the corridor and the door hissed shut behind him. No sooner than it had, a strong hand grabbed the back of Kyan's shirt and lifted him off the deck.

"What's this...."

The question was answered when the Onlie shifted his weight to his right and pointed his phaser up and behind him, catching the Nausicaan under the chin. He grunted and fell to the deck, unconscious... or dead. At that range, even the stun setting could be lethal. Kyan dropped back down in a crouch before standing up. "Piss haid Nausicaans." he swore. "It figures that!"

When he turned around to head toward the main sickbay, a beam caught him in the chest, sending him backwards. He landed in a heap on top of the Nausicaan that he'd shot.

Ojegar had followed Doctor Fellows over to the bed to see what was happening with the patient. He was next to her when the security team had entered. His first instinct had been to fight them off but the old Nausicaan knew that this would only result in more injuries, and that wasn't his goal.

When he saw the Orion woman drop he grabbed Fellows around the neck from behind and trained his disruptor on her. "Stand down!" he ordered. "I do not wish further injuries."

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

The second Zhuk exited the Jeffries tube, distracted or not, the intruders began to fire. Fortunately, his small size and excellent agility gave him just enough time to get to cover before disruptor bolts began sizzling all around him.

Zala, also small was able to enter before most of the firing started, but Zhuk heard her yelp as a disruptor grazed her despite her best effort. The next two members of team Beta never made it out of the Jeffries tubes and just as it looked grim, Blackfeather's team Alpha burst through the front doors of Sickbay.

Already distracted by the biobed and then the appearance of Zhuk and Zala, the intruders were caught facing the wrong way and paid a heavy price for failing to maintain a rear guard. Several of the goons were mowed down before they even knew Blackfeather was there. This change of fortune prompted Ojegar to take Doctor Fellows hostage as he could see his plan was coming apart.

Unfortunately for him, his great size far exceeded the 'cover' obtained from holding Fellows in front of him. In addition, as he called out to stop the firing, he failed to notice when he grabbed her, she was holding a hypospray as she was treating the patient on the biobed. As he spoke, Jess slowly, quietly, by touch, dialed the hypospray to what she hoped was neurozine, the most powerful sedative in the device. As she worked, she thought.

"Somebody, just keep him talking for a little bit longer."

[ShranLahr ch'Verret]

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

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

All in agreement, the Ferengi opened the door, as Zhuk poured in, followed by the rest of Alpha Team. He tried to reduce his profile as much as possible to keep himself from being an easy target. Beams set to stun flew from his phaser rifle, targeting perhaps what he unconsciously felt to be the biggest danger to the operation: the Orion animal woman. Perhaps, it had been the fact that her pheromones tickled at his nostrils. Or just he did not like Orions at all, but whatever was the case, two beams impacted her, one in the upper chest, and another in the left leg.

He then aimed towards the Nausicaans, firing once more, though if he could score a hit on them would be seen, as they replied in kind...

Ojegar had followed Doctor Fellows over to the bed to see what was happening with the patient. He was next to her when the security team had entered. His first instinct had been to fight them off but the old Nausicaan knew that this would only result in more injuries, and that wasn't his goal.

When he saw the Orion woman drop he grabbed Fellows around the neck from behind and trained his disruptor on her. "Stand down!" he ordered. "I do not wish further injuries."

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!

[Nira Said]

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian watched the display on the arm of his command chair intently as the Mjolnir launched. Espada requested and acknowledged the transport of the probe onto the shuttle and it accelerated to intercept the Doomsday Machine. The Challenger matched the short hop to warp speed to reach the Machine as far from Angdarr Prime as possible, but that was still inside the orbit of Angdarr V, far too close in Ian's mind for comfort.

Ordering red alert and battlestations, the Challenger was 100,000 kilometers behind the Mjolnir, while the still silent Romulans remained trailing at a safe 500,000 kilometers behind Challenger. The Mjolnir closed steadily and soon entered the critical 50,000 kilometer response range of the Machine and... nothing! The massive weapon didn't fire. The probe did function as the IFF device Ian had hoped it was. However, before anyone could celebrate, Randall, who had returned to the bridge and was at the Science One station called out.

"Captain, a tractor has locked onto the Mjolnir!"

"What?"

"Wait, it's not the main tractor, this one emanates from aft on the Machine, they are being pulled toward a sort of plateau near the tractor emitter."

Every fiber of Ian's being cried out to open fire and swoop in to save the away team, but he forced himself to remain calm. Although alarming, the tractor was not an actual threat, yet. Steeling himself, he said.

"Let it play out."

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

[Mjolnir - Angdarr System]

When the tractor locked on, Espada initially attempted to break free, but after it became apparent they weren't being dragged into the maw curiosity took over and Nira allowed them to be pulled where the Machine was taking them. A close scan of the area of the plateau Challenger had detected found a small conical depression of slightly over a meter appeared. Next that was a circular bulge of neutronium that appeared to be a hatch of some kind.

The probe then began to emit a signal different from the one it had been sending and it was clear that the device was interacting with the Machine. Whether this was a good thing or a bad thing was, as yet, unknown.

[Commander Nira Said | Flyer Mjolnir | In Proximity to Andgarr Prime and the Doomsday Weapon]

Once the team assembled, the Mjolnir was off. As soon as they cleared the shuttlebay, Nira said, "Once we get to a certain range, Mister Espada, request transporting the probe aboard."

And it was up.

"Okay, Neva, Aarwendil, keep an eye on the device. Tora, Jamil, with them. Hector, set course for the Weapon."

They drew in closer...they got into the reaction range of the Weapon...nothing. Nira breathed a sigh of relief. But then, something hit the flyer.

"Commander!" Espada shouted. "Tractor beam's locked onto us!"

"Good Allah," Nira breathed in horror...she looked up, and as Espada fought the tractor beam, she noticed where they were going.

"Wait...Hector, stand down," Nira ordered. "We're not heading into the maw, we're heading somewhere on its surface...let's see where we're going..."

Indeed, once she realized they weren't heading into the maw, Nira was instantly curious. They all watched as the Mjolnir was tractored to the surface towards aft of the Weapon. Soon, they were settled onto a plateau of neutronium. Nira looked around from the cockpit windows; if Nira didn't know better, she would've figured it similar to settling down on an asteroid or small moon. It was a rocky, yet seemed to have a bit of shine; if it had been spherical, Nira would've figured it as a moon.

"Sensor scan," Nira ordered. "Anything we need to know about the new area?"

She heard out the sensor results. Raised an eyebrow at hearing mention of the hatch; she hoped there were EVA suits, though without her armored EVA suit, she felt like a turtle without a shell. Then the probe began making a new signal.

Recalling being informed that it was Neva who had succeeded in activating the probe, Nira said, "Neva, keep an eye on the probe.

"Meantime, let's get a channel open to the Challenger," said Nira. She got the viewscreen on, and instructed one of the officers to make sure to adjust the viewscreen angle where possible. When the viewscreen showed the bridge, Nira, hoping to be able to show Captain Galloway, so he can at least see rather than listen, gestured at the probe. Plus, since Ian knew code signals better than she did, she hoped he knew what it was.

"Captain, we've landed somewhere on the Weapon. The Probe's making a new signal now. I think it's interacting with the Machine. Can you tell what it's telling it?" Nira asked, and then called for silence so Ian can hear the signal clearly.

[Ian Galloway]

[Commander Nira Said | Flyer Mjolnir | In Proximity to Andgarr Prime and the Doomsday Weapon]

Recalling being informed that it was Neva who had succeeded in activating the probe, Nira said, "Neva, keep an eye on the probe.

"Meantime, let's get a channel open to the Challenger," said Nira. She got the viewscreen on, and instructed one of the officers to make sure to adjust the viewscreen angle where possible. When the viewscreen showed the bridge, Nira, hoping to be able to show Captain Galloway, so he can at least see rather than listen, gestured at the probe. Plus, since Ian knew code signals better than she did, she hoped he knew what it was.

"Captain, we've landed somewhere on the Weapon. The Probe's making a new signal now. I think it's interacting with the Machine. Can you tell what it's telling it?" Nira asked, and then called for silence so Ian can hear the signal clearly.

[Shuttle Mjolnir - Near Angdarr V]

As Nira asked her question, the signals between the probe and the Doomsday Machine synched up and exchanged a burst of data. Then they stopped. A moment later, directly in front of the small circular hatch in the depression in front them them closed and a much, much larger set of doors opened ponderously. Before Espada could break away, a more powerful tractor beam latched on and pulled the Mjolnir inside the Machine. As the Mjolnir settled in the enormous hanger bay, the massive doors closed, and when the integrity of the neutronium hull was thus restored, the away team lost all contact with the Challenger. Whatever happened next, they were now completely on their own.

[Bridge - USS Challenger]

Ian was glad to hear from Nira as watching the Mjolnir get speared with a tractor had been heart rending. However, in response to Nira's question, this time, he didn't have an answer, but before he could reply, the shuttle was dragged inside the Machine. Ian choked back a gasp and felt a cold sense of dread that he had just sent six members of the crew to certain death.

"What have I done?"

He murmured and wondered if he had completely misread the situation, a thought that made him feel ill.

[Nira Said]

[Shuttle Mjolnir - Near Angdarr V]

As Nira asked her question, the signals between the probe and the Doomsday Machine synched up and exchanged a burst of data. Then they stopped. A moment later, directly in front of the small circular hatch in the depression in front them them closed and a much, much larger set of doors opened ponderously. Before Espada could break away, a more powerful tractor beam latched on and pulled the Mjolnir inside the Machine. As the Mjolnir settled in the enormous hanger bay, the massive doors closed, and when the integrity of the neutronium hull was thus restored, the away team lost all contact with the Challenger. Whatever happened next, they were now completely on their own.

[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."

[Zhukdrashar Mrekrerhas]

[Sickbay - USS Challenger]

The second Zhuk exited the Jeffries tube, distracted or not, the intruders began to fire. Fortunately, his small size and excellent agility gave him just enough time to get to cover before disruptor bolts began sizzling all around him.

Zala, also small was able to enter before most of the firing started, but Zhuk heard her yelp as a disruptor grazed her despite her best effort. The next two members of team Beta never made it out of the Jeffries tubes and just as it looked grim, Blackfeather's team Alpha burst through the front doors of Sickbay.

Already distracted by the biobed and then the appearance of Zhuk and Zala, the intruders were caught facing the wrong way and paid a heavy price for failing to maintain a rear guard. Several of the goons were mowed down before they even knew Blackfeather was there. This change of fortune prompted Ojegar to take Doctor Fellows hostage as he could see his plan was coming apart.

Unfortunately for him, his great size far exceeded the 'cover' obtained from holding Fellows in front of him. In addition, as he called out to stop the firing, he failed to notice when he grabbed her, she was holding a hypospray as she was treating the patient on the biobed. As he spoke, Jess slowly, quietly, by touch, dialed the hypospray to what she hoped was neurozine, the most powerful sedative in the device. As she worked, she thought.

"Somebody, just keep him talking for a little bit longer."

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?"

[Jamil]

"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.