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Designed to be a flexible 24 hours sim, the story starts at 0000 hours, at the start of the delta shift. The crew picked up an interesting nebula on the long range sensors. It appeared to be a planetary nebula but with some unusual features. They changed course to allow astrometrics to investigate further. After they enter the nebula, strange things started to happen...
Ensign Gordon experienced an episode in engineering where he tried to reroute control of navigation away from the bridge, succeeding for only a brief moment. He had no recollection of his actions and was checked out in Sickbay, where they discover an unusual energy trace in his body and altered memory engrams. Meanwhile in Astrometrics, the CSO was awakened by an excited Ensign (Birall Sez) over her nebula discovery. The supposed planetary nebula's star is far too cool to be the sole star but if it was a binary, what happened to it's partner? Questions and more questionsâА¦
The XO was "taken over" very briefly and an Eng NE has done something to navigation that effectively locked out the bridge from controlling the helm. The ship is brought to a stop while people sort out what's going on.
The CO was also taken over as was Ensign Sez who decided to take a break. The CO, who had been sleeping encountered Sez in the corridor and the beings occupying their bodies (it is revealed that that is what is happening here), Nokale and Masarila, at that moment had a confrontation that resulted in Sez firing a phaser at the CO! No harm was done other than a minor burn to the CO's arm, but the mystery continues as their memories seem to be affected by the experience. As it turns out, the science ensign, though had more recollection of what happened than others who have been taken over. The question at that point was why?
Security investigated the weapons fire on Deck 2, though the parties involved were long gone. They weren't able to get much info at the time. Meanwhile, in engineering, it was discovered that someone completely reordered the isolinear chip set that controlled navigation, rendering the helm inoperable and halting the ship within the nebula. Still more questions than answers.
Upon deeper investigation, Medical discovered that those who had experienced memory lapses showed different memory engrams, as if another brain pattern has been superimposed. They were able to note two distinct patterns, that show up, suggesting two different parties.
Ensign Phena Abigail, another scientist, had next been taken over by one of the non-corporeal aliens, Nokale, and gone to Engineering armed. To prove a point at how serious they were, the 'possessed' scientist killed NE Lumberton, disintegrating him. Nokale then focused on gaining control of the impulse system.
Meanwhile, on the bridge, the other alien, Masarila, took over the CE, rerouting control of the warp core to the bridge and locking it out. But the CE's health forced her out and into the helmswoman, Amelia Techaira. She revealed that the ship must not leave the nebula. It is explained that the non-corporeal aliens, the Dakari, used to shift back and forth between solid form and a non-corporeal state easily. But their people were divided into two factions and the ensuing war destroyed, not only their world, but their star. Somehow, they were reverted into their non-corporeal state and are stuck in the nebula, depending on it for existence.
Tension between the Dakari alien Masarila and the CE reached a high, resulting in the CE punching the alien. Fed up, Masarila vacated the helmswoman's body, leaving a very dazed Ensign Techaira nursing a very sore jaw. The CO took the CE into the ready room for a discussion/lecture, while the CSO escorted Techaira to Sickbay.
In Sickbay, the CMO, Ensign Sez and others (who've been coming and going due to various circumstances), are trying to figure out how to counter the non-corporeal aliens' ability to take over the crew. Scanning Techaira, they note that her residual energy trace is even higher than anyone previously, likely a result of the duration of her âАЬpossessionâАЭ and how soon she was scanned after Masarila leaving her body. Meanwhile, the other Dakari, Nokale (the one trying to steal the ship), Escorted the XO at phaser point to the bridge, after being locked out of impulse and warp controls. Leaving sickbay, the CSO and Ensign Sex head back to the labs to investigate a little further. Back on the bridge, the impulse systems were rebooted and the ship gets ready to leave the nebula.
The situation escalates as the XO is held at phaser point set to disintegrate (just as it was for Lumberton), by the diminutive scientist possessed by Nokale. In the labs, Ensign Sez pieces things together and notes that the grouping of dense particles throughout the nebula may in fact be the aliens. She also considered how she had some memory of her possession while others didn't. After pondering for a moment, the Betazoid calls out to Masarila and offers herself willing to be a host in order to end the situation.
On the bridge, the Masarila shows up in the form of Ensign Sez and confronts Nokale. She encourages the crew to leave the nebula and never come back. They can only leave the nebula if they use a host, and while she doesn't wish to spend eternity in the nebula, she won't let Nokale use the crew to further his agenda. She leaves and alone on a ship that is heading out of the nebula, Nokale gives in and releases the XO and vacates the scientist's body, leaving the crew to exit the nebula in peace.
A warning buoy was left near the nebula to prevent any other ships from being caught in the same situation as they were.
The sim ended around 0800 Hours and made for some very tired crew members...
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