Command Evaluation - Kaylen Pt 4
Posted on Mon Jul 19th, 2021 @ 2:19am by Remal Kajun & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Savar cha'Salik hei-Surak Talek-sen-deen & Lieutenant Commander Aurora Vali
Mission:
Gamma Quadrant
Location: USS Sunfire
Timeline: Evaluation Week
Remal watched helplessly as his wife left the holo version of himself lying on the floor, dying. He had already come to terms with the harsh reality that if this scenario were to play out in real life, things would play out just the same. It still hurt.
Choked up a bit, he asked, "So, uh, is this a faceoff situation, some sort of showdown? I thought we were going for the destroy your ship and crew rather than let them fall into the enemy's hand scenario?" He asked Savar.
"I too thought we were going for the destruction of ship and crew," Savar answered as he watched the holo-Rhenora.
"Okay, so long as we are on the same page. Perhaps we can play it by ear for a bit and see where she takes us." He said as a comment more than a question.
"We are indeed on the same page Chief," Savar replied.
Perhaps when the Captain reaches the bridge assuming she does, the situation will become clearer."
It tore her beating heart out of chest to leave Remal on the floor, swiping angrily at the tears that obscured her vision she moved towards the turbolift, phaser rifle in hand and determination in her eye. She would make these beings pay for the death of her husband, and they would pay dearly.
Deciding against using the turbolift she popped the cover off one of the Jefferies tube access and crawled inside, her senses on alert and keening for any sign of the intruders. She didn't allow herself any time to deal on the horror already inflicted - deal with the now - control the controllables.
Watching along with everyone else, Aurora was sensing Rhenora’s pain at the loss of her holographic Remal, Command recerts were designed to be difficult but on a pregnant woman, they were all the harder.
On the bridge, as well as various locations throughout the ship, species 8472 as described by logs they had received from the USS Voyager were scouring the ship, searching for information. They had discovered the Federation had a way of destroying the Borg and they were prepared to do whatever it took to glean that information from the Sunfire and her Captain.
Rhenora had free rein of her ship in the access tube, apparently, the aliens didn't 'fit' into them, however they were wreaking havoc in the corridors and main work centres. She was climbing through the decks on her way to the bridge. Very slowly and carefully opening the access point near the rear console and taking stock of the situation on the bridge before giving away her position. The muzzle of her phaser rifle was aimed through the tiny gap, slightly obscuring her view but allowing her to see the dire situation. The bridge had been trashed, her crew dead, and beings resembling oversized insects were running rampant.
A thudding menace scurried quickly past the hatch where she was hiding, moved about two yards, then turned and began walking back in her direction slowly.
Rhenora froze, trying to get as much detail on these creatures as possible through the gap on the panel. Unconsciously she moved her bodyweight back a fraction, unknowing if they could detect her, by scent. Her mind raced trying to place where she had seen them before. Never directly but there was a reference to them in a report from somewhere, from another ship yet she couldn't quite place it.
Programed like the real thing, the three-legged creature could sense Rhenora telepathically and with its olfactory senses. It paused just outside the hatch while it communicated with two others just like it in the vicinity. They began flanking her position. Unable to get into the small hole, they could at least trap her. Little did she know they were capable of tearing through bulkheads like water through paper.
Her cover blown she attempted to fire her weapon, hitting the closest alien at point-blank range. The weapon seemed to have little to no effect causing the Captain to reconfigure her weapon. Flicking it to maximum she fired again before her memory triggered on to the remnant of the report she had read. Voyager had encountered these creatures in the Delta Quadrant.. species... species.. species and some numbers that she couldn't quite remember right now. They were immune to weapons fire.. forcefields, just about anything, and could debilitate people with telepathy. The only known defense was borg nano-probes. Not something she had handy right at this moment.
Angered, the creature began to rip into the wall and the bulkhead just behind the wall in an effort to exact revenge on whatever annoyed it. At the same time, the other two creatures attempted to telepathically stun her, with limited success. It was enough though that they now knew she was a high value, keep alive, target.
The pain in her head was intense, debilitating to a degree but did not last. The pain retreated allowing her to move again and she scurried through the bowels of the ship, this time heading for sickbay. If she could get there she could replicate some nano-probs and find a way to fight these things - in the meantime - she just had to survive.
Sweat glistened as she crawled and climbed through the decks, always with the feeling that she was being pursued, the occasional jolt in her mind made sure of that.
3 more decks...
TBC
