The Investigation Begins

Posted on Sat Oct 3, 2020 @ 10:52pm by Lieutenant Penny Mc Taggard & Captain Larisna Koralova

Mission: Mission 1 - Angstrom Operation
Location: Angstrom Station
Timeline: Mission day 6

[ON]Part 1

The crew loaded up and we took of and in a few minutes was approaching the Shuttle Bay on Angstrom Station. Reazat looked at her shuttle pilot. "Steady as she goes and approach carefully."

E'Lor was looking at the scans of the complex, "Solar shields still up, and the place is still running on batteries. We need to get some type of power back up if we are to domthus correctly" she said, looking at Raezat quickly.

Lt. Malloy looked out the view port she couldn't see a docking port but that just meant that her side of the ship was probably facing away from ship. She wondered what awaited them inside the station and why the fusion generators were down. One of the reasons she came on this mission was that she could probably fix it, at least the control interface it would take an engineer to actually restore power. She had a good tool kit though and could fix almost anything provided she could cobble together the parts.

Across from the engineer, Kade sat quietly, waiting for them to reach the outpost. He hardly knew anyone else on the shuttle, except perhaps by name. And the fact that they were all wearing environmental suits didn’t really help any in that regard. Trying to remember who was who was going to be challenge enough. Actually getting to know them better would have to wait until later.

"Power is our first concern and also life support. We need those to keep the station livable to allow us to do our investigations and determine what is going on." Said Raezt.

Soon the ship was inside the solar shield and was making its way to the docking port. The environment outside the solar shield was a lot like what they would imagine hell to be. Fire and brimstone lots of radiation, static shocks and molten rock.

The XO soon had them docked. There was no internal space port it was all outside. with access ports dotting the landing pad. Seemed like an ancient way to get supplies and equipment where it needed to go Commander Reazat thought.

They had to use the prefix cod to get the doors to open.

Alright shipmates keep a good eye open. as she opened the docking port.

Since the entire away team was already in environment suits they couldn't smell the rot or ozone that was just on the other side but they walked through anyway ..

Alright Phasers and tricorders out Commander Reezat said....

The commander led the way followed by Malloy and the rest of the away team.

The corridor looked like it had been through hell there was phaser scorching along the corridors broken and melted transparasteel on the floor and what looked like barricades that had been blasted through.

"Lifesigns?" Reazat said.

"Life signs are scattered and this debris is at least a week old Commander." Malloy said.

“Confirmed,” Kade said, consulting his own tricorder, “I’m definitely getting something, but I’m having a hard time pinpointing exact locations.”

Jedre looked over with everyone else to see what she can do, she needed to stay with the group at all costs.

"Lt. Deelan please set up a security perimeter I do not wish to be attacked before we can rescue any survivors." Amanda said.

Jedre looked at the commander, "Aye sir doing it now." Jedre said as she left and grabbed some Security officers to guard the area, from enemy fighters

Amanda looked around suddenly she heard a crowd it was more of a rabble or a mob coming at them with lead pipes and other debris.

"Spread out I think were about to be attacked." Lt Malloy yelled out.

Suddenly 15 people burst thought eh corridor with murder in the eyes swinging pipes and other sharp objects.

Amanda set her phaser to wide-angle and fired...Taking down a few.

Jedre and security had their phasers going shooting others that are not welcomed.

Even though they had anticipated the possibility of something happening, the sudden onset caught the team by surprise, Kade included. It was a fierce energy and seemed much more visceral than one might have expected, almost as if the attackers were just throwing themselves at the away team. Kade stood near the center of their group, still someone protected from their assailants, but he knew that didn’t mean it was going to stay that way.

Suddenly something seemed to attach itself to Commander Reezat and down she fell twitching. however not before being brained hard with a lead pipe.

The doctor saw the first officer go down in the periphery of his vision. He turned, but it was too late. Her suit had already been breached. Even at this distance, Kade could tell the damage was serious.

"Jedre watch yourself to the right", Amanda yelled.

Amanda took down two more.

A strange feeling came over Steven as the group was set upon. Shame. Before he had suited up back in the Science lab. He had danced around the room like an idiot. Now in front of him people were being hurt. How could he of been so childish? Setting his Phaser to stun he fired at a man. The guy toppled to his knees. Cried in rage and crawled towards Steven.

Edgeware fired again and the man fell on his face. Steven slowly approached him. Suddenly the man pushed himself up. Steven backed up and fired again. This time the man went down. Steven scanned him.

“ What the? I stunned him on full three times..... he should be comatose...... his nervous system is still going......” Steven said wide eyed.

The science officer’s remark caught Kade’s attention. He immediately turned back to his tricorder and ran a quick scan. It came back confirming what Edgeware had just said. “This doesn’t make any sense,” Kade muttered to himself.

Even in the environmental suit, E'Lor swung her bat'leth and severed the head from the body of the nearest attacker. "You have to sever the head from the body to kill. It's the only way. Stun seems not to phase them!" she said as she swung at the next attacker. E'Lor could sence the emotions of the attackers. Disconnected, rabid, vicious, ravaged, and totally confused. What had done this, she could only guess. Suddenly, she stopped mid swing, pulled her phaser and set it on the lightest kill setting and fired. The man went down instantly. Scanning, she found him alive but fully stunned. "Set your phasers to the lightest kill setting. It will bring them down without killing", she said taking down another. "This is crazy" she added. E'Lor's head spun towards the Commander, "Commander!", getting up she leaped for the attacker but too late. The pipe hit its target. "Amanda, the Commander is down"

"I can see that but i'm a little occupied at the moment" She said ducking as a pipe was swung at her head.

Amanda fired her phaser again at a higher setting. Heavy stun. That seemed to do the trick.

E'Lor looked like she was having a good time killing with her Bat'leth..

One by one the attackers were cut down.

Finally the last one went down..

Kade immediately moved toward the Hornet’s first officer, tricorder in hand. He slung his medikit off his shoulder and set it on the deck as he knelt down for a closer look. However, he didn’t need the single unbroken tone to tell him what he already knew.

Is everyone alright Amanda asked checking out Commander Raezat, blood gushing out of her head like a spigot.

Kade looked at Mallory, a downcast expression on his face, and shook his head.

=/\= Malloy to Hornet, Captain we've been attacked, Commander Reazat is dead. I am assuming command of the away team =/\=

The more Steven scanned the fallen. The he could not believe the readings. Something was driving up the attackers pain levels. Even out cold they were still in great pain. No wonder they had gone mad.

He moved towards the away team. Looking down he saw their slain comrade.

It was then for a split second. Steven thought he saw something slithering away. Looking at his tricorder Edgeware could not read anything. He gave it a tap. He was sure there had been something there.

“ Did anyone just see that? “ Steven asked

"See what? what did you see, Mr Edgewear and where did you see it?" Malloy asked.

There was definitely a noticeable pause before Larisna spoke.

=A= Koralova here. Acknowledged, Lieutenant. =A= Larisna paused again =A= Lieutenant, be aware, we are tracking inbound Romulan vessels on a direct course for the Dar'Akoa system. For now, continue as normal. But in the meantime, what is going on down there? =A=

Steven looked at his tricorder again. Whatever he had seen did not register on the device. Did he imagine what he had just seen? No there was a trail of slime running from their fallen , comrade.

“ I only saw it for a few seconds. Did not get a proper look. It’s left some kind of trail where it slithered away though. Whatever it is our tricorders don’t register it.” Steven reported. “ Also those attackers we knocked out. Even in a comatose state their nervous systems are being stimulated. Their pain levels are off the charts.”

=/\= Acknowledged Hornet, we are continuing with the mission, We are tracking something but it doesnt register on our tricorders. We haven't made contact yet with the crew although we were viciously attacked by some of them. Malloy out. =/\=

Kade turned his tricorder away from the first officer and pointed it in the direction Edgeware was indicating. Lifeform readings were still erratic, but there was definitely evidence that something had been there at some point. He continued his scan and watched as the results came through. “You’re right,” he said, “There shouldn’t be this much neural activity...but from what I’m seeing, they’re all showing it.”

E'Lor had resisted allowing her mind to sense the pain, and it was a good thing too. It would have caused her to pass out. But what on earth was driving these people mad?

"We need to be quick about finding whatever survivors we can the Hornet has picked up Romulans heading our way." Amanda said.

Lt Malloy ordered on the the security guards to return to the runabout with Commander Reazat's body.

She used her tricorder to find human life signs.

"Alright people looks like there are people down this corridor.." She said

"Lets move out phasers on heavy stun setting." Malloy added.

A feeling of unease came over Steven as they began to move out. He had the feeling something in the shadows was watching them. Sizing them up , waiting to strike. Their scanning devices just picked up a lot of very angry people. But something had left that slime trail. He noticed the same ooze on some of the walls and floor.

Steven scanned one trail. He had never seen this combination of chemicals before. Plus there were two he did not even recognise. Something that could inflict pain. Be invisible to scanners and be made up of chemicals. That really should not go together plus two. That were new to science. Whatever was in the shadows. Steven would love to see it. At a safe distance of course.

E'Lor's hair was tingling and it was a feeling of something diabolical hiding somewhere close. Walking to where Steven was, "You got a weird feeling too?", she asked him.

Steven looked at E’Lor.

“ Yes. The tricorder says there is nothing there. But those slime trails did not suddenly appear on their own. Whatever made them should show up on the scanner. But they are not. I don’t like this.....” He told her.

"I'm in agreement with you. What ever it is, might be sentient but something the scanners can't recognize. I don't like how I feel concerning it?" E'Lor said, looking over his shoulder.

From his position a little further forward in the group, Kade could hear his colleagues talking. He shared their unease about the situation as well as the readings he’d taken of the people who had attacked them. This obviously wasn’t normal behavior. And yet, at the same time, there was almost a sense of familiarity to the whole thing. It was as if Kade had seen or heard of something like this happening before, but couldn’t quite remember the details.

Amanda proceeded carefully leading the way to the other life forms they were detecting. as they proceeded down the corridor she noticed that many of the grated vents were mission or broken and most of the doors seem barricaded.

"It looks like they were definitely trying to keep something out". Lt. Malloy commented.

Ironically there were no bodies to be found no blood but they was a lot of phaser scoring along the wall of the corridor and some of the lights were blown out.

At the far end of the corridor they came to a set of stairs going up and down.

Her tricorder indicated that the people were were on the the level above them. Some in the control center of the station.

"Lets stay together for now. Our mission is to rescue people and their aren't enough of us to really split up." Amanda said carefully making her way up the staircase.

Jedre and some security followed Amanda and the others to rescue others.

E'Lor couldn't shake that eri feeling as she climbed the stairs. She vaguely remembered reading somewhere about people driven mad by something, but for the life of her she couldn't remember what. She would love to look through the computer here on the base if she could get enough power to use it.

As they began to move up the staircase. Steven’s feelings of unease seemed to grow. He noticed that it seemed to be getting darker. Many of the lighting panels had been smashed. Had it been done by accident or on purpose?

As they continued a strange noise filled the air. It sounded like a cross between a swarm of bees and the flapping of wings.

“ What is that noise? “ He asked.

"Look at that whats that on the wall?" It looks like the wall had blisters.. Then one detached and flew towards them.

Maia aimed her phaser and shot it. it fell to the ground in front of her..

"Ever see anything like that?" Amanda asked..

"Lets take it back with us for analysis..."

"Calipers and a containment box"...Amanda said.

"Fek'lar, they fly! Now I remember where I read it. Don't let them attach to you anywhere, they cause the madness!" E'Lor said, looking for any movement from the walls.

The creature or whatever it was. Reminded Steven of the Italian pasta dish Ravioli. Suddenly a memory hit him. He had once read an old historical file about a famous Starship Captain. Whose brother and sister in law had been killed. By a parasitical creature that if his photographic memory , was correct. These revolting pasta dishes of death. Looked almost but not completely the same.

“ The Lieutenant is correct. If these things are the same as in the historical files. They carry a stinger which enables them. To control their victims through intense pain.” Steven warned. “ Once they sting anyone “

"We don't know what they are yet, but I will say this if they have stingers that can control you we need to find another way up. I saw a Jeffries tube access junction down stairs If I recall the mission briefing correctly. I believe the med lab is on level 2, perhaps we can analyze it there, but either way we need to get a specimen back to the ship". We are not going this way, lets try the other..

[End] Part 1