Posted by Ensign Issac Forgrave (Security Officer) in Bridge - Main Sim

Posted by Lieutenant Ellie Kleinhoffer (Chief Engineer) in Bridge - Main Sim

Posted by Commander Amelia Manning (Executive Officer) in Bridge - Main Sim
Posted by… suppressed (28) by the Post Ghost! 👻
NE Buckingham sat at the science station. The hour was 0720, and it was near the end of his shift. Come 0800 the morning crew would come to relieve them, and he would finally be able to get some sleep. Stifling a yawn, his eyes caught some strange readings coming from the main sensor array.

Hannibal had taken the night shift that night, having given Master Chief Brown the day off. He sat in the command chair, pretending to read a book when NE Buckingham spoke.

“Sir,” He spoke up, pulling up the sensor data to full view on his workstation. “I’m detecting something on the short range sensors. Some kind of spatial anomaly, directly in front of us.” He ran a few scans. “Whatever it is, its growing fast and emitting high levels of…” He paused, double checking the readings. “Chronometric particles.”

-GM SEMAJ

Hannibal put the padd down and stood up, walking over to the station. “On Screen.” He ordered, looking down at the station. When he mentioned Chronometric Particles he stood up to his full height. “Go to yellow alert, shields up.”

-COS

Moments after the Yellow Alert klaxon sounded, Colonel Calvin Harris stepped out of his office and on to the Bridge. Blue eyes swept to the Chief of Security, coffee cup still in his right hand. “Report.” He barked as he strode to the Centre Chair.

Harris, CO

“Sir, a spatial anomaly has appeared,” Hannibal explained as he returned to tactical. “There are chronometric particles, high levels, growing fast.”

-COS

Harris settled into the Command Chair and as he rested the coffee cup on the arm, nodded to the Helmsman. “Full stop… standby Maximum Warp at 90 degrees to the Anomaly” He then glanced to the Science Duty Officer. “Full scans of the Anomaly please, with special focus on power spikes and direction of travel… if any.”

NE Buckingham nodded. The sensor readings were going haywire. He had never seen anything like this before.

The Commander took sip of his coffee, looking rather deep in thought for a moment before he raised his left hand and as he motioned with it… continued. “Comm… get in touch with Fleet HQ. Report our status and location, they need to be aware of this thing… especially since it appears uncharted.”

“Sir, long range subspace communications will be disrupted by the proximity to this anomaly,” NE Buckingham reported. “The sensors are going haywire. Whatever it is, it’s growing in size and magnitude.”

Tapping the comm stud on his chair, Harris said clearly. =A=Engineering… this is the Captain. We have apparently encountered a spatial anomaly that is producing Chronometric particles. I want you all to keep a close eye on the Warp Core and if fluctuations are observed, I want to know. I have no intention of hanging out for no reason if this looks sideways. Bridge out=A=

Harris, CO

Ellie’s voice came back =^=Understood Captain. We’ll keep an eye on it. =^=

Kleinhoffer (eng)

As NE Buckingham continued to monitor the sensors, he let out an audible gasp. “Sir, there is something coming through the vortex, very large and moving directly towards us! I’ll bring up the main viewscreen.”

The image flashed on the screen, a large energy vortex, crackling with bolts of energy and swirling in a circular pattern. From the center of the vortex, an object was emerging, that closely resembled the hull of a vessel of some sort.

As the ship fully emerged from the vortex, it was not very large compared to the Dresden, perhaps half its size. On the outside of the ship, a dozen or so balls of light seemed to circle the vessel.

The ship, now fully emerged from the vortex, came to a stop. Slowly behind it, the vortex began to close.

-GM SEMAJ

<!–--> Osten to Ashur. We’ve got a visitor in main engineering. Not sure how she got in… shields are up, right? <!–-->

(Ensign Osten, Security Division Three Officer)

Hannibal looked up towards the Colonel.

=^=What kind of visitor Ensign? What are they doing?=^= He asked curious, he double checked his systems to ensure that the shields were up.

-COS

=^= A woman in modest clothing, no sign of any technology or weaponry. At the moment… she seems to be inspecting the warp core. =^=

(Ensign Osten, Security Division Three Officer)

=^=Understood, Keep an eye on her, we are on our way.=^= Hannibal told him.

At that moment, the Bridge doors swooshed open and what seemed to be a slightly disgruntled First Officer came through. It was… unusual. And it was clear that Manning had covered the short distance from her quarters to the Bridge at a faster pace than usual. And yet, even though her hair was slightly more untamed than usual and her uniform was not as impeccably pressed, Amelia seemed not to have spilled one single drop of her tea.

Nodding to the crew at their stations as she walked in, Manning settled down into her chair. “Sorry…” She turned to Harris. There was an apologetic tone in her voice. “… I overslept… not even the yellow alert seemed to get me out of bed in time this morning… What did I miss?”

Lt. Cmdr. Manning, XO

“In a nut shell, Chronometric Particles have appeared near the ship, and we have a visitor in main engineering.” Hannibal stated briefly, “I am about to go down there to investigate.”

-COS

“Sir the ship appears to be discharging some kind of energy weapons!” NE Buckingham reported.

At that very moment the strange alien vessel in front of them began firing what appeared to be balls of light.

The energy blasts tore through the Desdens shields as if they were nothing. The ship rocked with the impact of multiple and steady impacts.

The console in front of NE Buckingham exploded in a flash of sparks, sending the NE flying.

Main power went offline, pitching them into momentary darkness as the backups came online, flickering.

-GM SEMAJ

As the bridge crew were recovering from the force of a blast a message came through =^= Sickbay to Bridge: We’ve lost power here. Are we under attack? =^=

Lt. (j.g.) Janvier, CMO

Everything happened fast. Too fast. Before Amelia could even look surprised at the Dresden’s COS’s report, the energy blasts shook the ship.

Holding herself tightly to her seat, Manning looked momentarily at Harris as the call from sickbay came through. Were they under attack? It would certainly seem that way, but with the Dresden’s CO by her side, Amelia didn’t want to overstep her authority. Instead, she waited expectantly at what Harris had to say.

Lt. Cmdr. Manning, XO

OOC: Just gonna make an edit here EG

=^=Bridge can you....ruder and be....ig?=^= The voice came from Lt jg Kleinhoffer, but the message was garbled and distorted as it came through.

Kleinhoffer (eng)

At that very moment, a large ball of light appeared to come directly through the view screen, stopping in the middle of the Bridge. The light was blinding to everyone on the Bridge.

Amelia didn’t have the time to worry about the garbled communications as a ball of light appeared to cross the viewscreen, right in front of them. For a moment, she shielded her eyes while her mind tried to process what was going on.

Not more than 5 seconds later, the ball of light dissipated, replaced by a simple looking woman. She was dressed in a plain black cotton dress and simple sandals. Her hair was blonde and wispy, as if she had just come through a very strong wind.

She looked around for a moment before she spoke. “We are the Rellex. You will surrender.”

-GM SEMAJ

OOC: Making a GM Edit here, the comms from Engineering are not being relayed to the Bridge.

=^=Do what you can, I’ll be there when I can.=^= Came Hannibal’s quick reply.

Manning didn’t have to look at Harris to know the outburst that was probably about to come from the Dresden’s commanding officer, but with her eyes locked in the woman’s figure, that thought didn’t even cross her mind. Instead, as the woman materialized in front of the bridge crew, Amelia was taken back in time, to memories that had taken place long ago. Memories that she had almost forgotten but that were now coming back to the front of her mind – to a woman she had met on her first assignment, fresh out of the academy. Sola, had been her name, and the time, she had chosen Amelia as her interface between herself and the crew. All because of some surviving telepathic connections in her brain, leftovers from some long gone ancestors of her.

Standing up from her seat, Manning didn’t even think that she might be stepping over the higher ranking officer sitting by her side, as her brain was suddenly controlled by old fears coming back from a long slumber.

Harris’ response, flashing through his mind in the split second after the woman arrived was just as obnoxious and cowboy as Amelia had feared.... or at least would have been had his Executive Officer not intervened. Gone was the moment of brandishing the .45 on his hip, of hammering home the point that “WE are Starfleet and that’s not how we do things” while holding the new arrival at gunpoint before issuing orders to the crew to reign the incredible power of the warship to bear on the clearly enemy vessel. That moment vanished the moment Manning rose from her seat. Now, it was his turn to watch and wait as one of the few people Harris truly trusted began to speak.

Col. Harris, CO

Taking one step towards the woman Amelia asked in a dry tone. “And why would we want to surrender? What do you want from us?” It was probably not the brightest move, but the irrationality of fear seldom leads to smart outcomes.

Lt. Cmdr. Manning, XO

As the two officers spoke, Hannibal checked his instruments to get an idea of what they were dealing with.

-COS

Harris watched and waited intently as the Executive Officer held her ground.

Harris, CO

All of the screens and displays on the Bridge were flickering and going in and out.

The woman stared blankly back at Manning. “Our vessel is malfunctioning. We require additional energy to complete our repairs.”

On the screen of the Captain’s chair flashed a message in basic text. IF YOU WISH TO SURVIVE, REROUTE ALL AVAILABLE POWER TO THE ENGINES AND ENTER THE VORTEX

-GM SEMAJ

The flickering of displays around the bridge made Amelia’s heart run faster. Regardless of her job description, she was still very much an Engineer. But Manning held the woman’s gaze steadily. Harris hadn’t said a word, which albeit surprising, probably meant he was trusting her to move forward.

“This is the Starfleet vessel USS Dresden. We can help you with your repairs.” Manning finally said. “All you have to do is ask. But if you keep firing on us you will destroy us before we can help you. So I suggest you cease your attack.” Her tone was far from complacent.

Lt. Cmdr. Manning, XO

Hannibal realized that he had lost all communication with engineering. He hoped that Ensign Osten was taking care of it. He wasn’t happy with what was going on, but at the moment, there wasn’t much for him to do but wait and see how this played out.

-COS

“Excuse me…” Harris said flatly, his eyes not rising from the chair display. “… but why, exactly, do you one… think it’s ok to issue orders to me on /my/ damn ship…?” The Marine’s eyes snapped up to meet the woman’s. “And two, if you think I’m blindly following you people into a swirling vortex in space… you’ve lost your damn mind. I’m from Tornado Country… we watch them… from a damn lawn chair on top of a cellar! We don’t go blindly running off to get inside! Now…” He sighed. “… you want our help…” His accent was thick as was usual when he was annoyed. “… ask and we will do our best to assist. But if you think I’m going to order my people on a wild goose chase, well… you gotta be the dumbest damn lifeforms I’ve seen in my whole career!”

Harris, Annoyed Okie & CO

Harris’s voice caught Amelia slightly off guard. But there it was! The explosion she had been waiting to happen ever since their visitor had appeared on the Bridge. For a moment she was confused by the Marine’s words. Issue orders to him? Following them blindly into a vortex? What was he talking about? Had he been contacted in some other way? A way the Bridge crew was oblivious to? The slight fears of encountering a being like Sola crept back to the surface, but Manning’s face remained unchanged, waiting for the woman to say her piece.

Lt. Cmdr. Manning, XO

“Into the vortex?!” The woman asked, the sound of shock in her voice. “Why would you want to…” Her voice trailed off, and she looked around. “Oh, I see. There is someone else trying to shape these events. Very well.” She quickly dissipated into a ball of light, floating over towards the Captain, before reappearing in her humanoid form once again.

Without a word, the woman placed her hand on Captain Harris’ shoulder, and the pair of them were engulfed in light and then the ball of light returned, shooting through the air, disappearing through the bulkhead.

“No!” Standing a step away from her chair, Amelia leaped back trying to reach Harris in time, her arm extended ready to grab the Dresden’s Commanding Officer. But it was too late. When her knee hit the center chair, it was already empty. Her eyes followed the ball of light until it was gone.

On the still active view screen, the alien ship began moving away from the Dresden, picking up speed. The vortex closed, as the ship moved farther out of visual range.

The consoles and screens stopped flickering and returned to normal.

-GM SEMAJ

Sitting down in the center chair, Manning’s British accent boomed across the Bridge.

“Red alert.”

Instantly red warning lights flooded the Bridge as well as the rest of the ship. Amelia let the klaxons sound once before rapid firing her orders.

“Helm, lay in a pursuit course and punch it. Do not lose that ship! Tactical, load photon torpedos, full spread. I want them locked on that ship and ready to fire if we need to. Security, I want full scans of the vessel. Everything. Every energy signature currently on board, every deck, every station mapped out. I want to know the location of every single toilet. Look for Colonel Harris’s commbadge and biosigns. I want to know if he is on board. Science, what is happening outside? Any more data on that vortex? Engineering, systems report.”

Cmdr. Manning, XO

=^=Main Engineering to the Bridge, the being in main engineering has left. The Chief Engineer is disabled.=^=

Kleinhoffer (Eng)

Ensign Forgrave had sat quietly at the security console throughout the chaos of the sudden “visitors” on the bridge, the power fluctuations, and confusing comms and reports trickling in; doing his best to collate everything and make sense of the situation.

With a welcome and clear order given by the XO, Forgrave immediately started working, entering several commands and query’s into the computer as fast as he could. His first search was for all commbadges; overlaid with all bio-signs - looking for discrepancies. If the Captain’s combadge or any biosigns resembling his were aboard, they should flag immediately with the location. Secondly, he started searching for all electronic signatures; remembering the light-show that the mysterious visitor entered and departed with, he opened up the filters to look for unusual light frequencies as well. He continued working, creating a number of charts and maps in an effort to locate anything unusual on the ship. Or anything missing from the ship…

“Commander, I’m running internal scans now, and starting to compile results. I’ll have something for you shortly.” Despite Issac’s calm voice, his mind was racing now that he was waiting on the results. What the hell is going on?! Didn’t look like teleportation, and our shields are up anyways… Is the Captain supposed to be a hostage or something? He re-focused on the console, trying to refine the data that was coming in; and trying to quiet his restless thoughts.

Ensign Issac Forgrave, Security

=^=Main Engineering Anyone care to tell me what is going on?=^= She asked

Kleinhoffer