Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

Posted on Sat Dec 2nd, 2023 @ 10:13pm by Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Remal Kajun & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Ensign Aubrie Fox & Lieutenant Thomas Haldeman & Lieutenant Alison Haldeman

Mission: Halloween
Location: USS Sunfire
Timeline: Current

-SNIP-
"Warning, sonic pulse release in 5 seconds" the computer intoned.
-SNIP-

The sonic pulse went off, causing instant migraine like headaches for just about everyone on the ship. It was a wild theory, but the Captain hoped that it would cause enough discomfort to free her people from the entity's control.

The pain inside her head was almost unbearable, causing her to fall forward and support her weight on the console. People everywhere were dropping like flies, but an angry green cloud emanated from them.

Seconds passed, long slow seconds and then Tom groaned from his place on the deck. "Ohhhhhh, my head!" He groaned. He saw Rhenora propped against the console. "Did it work? Please answer softly." He urged.

Unfortunately, the sonic pulse was short lived and temporary. Driven from their now unconscious hosts, the Energy beings only grew angrier at the mild inconvenience. As the bodies began to regain mobility, the spirits simply reasserted themselves within.

The entity hovering above Tom swooped down and screamed, "NOOOOO!" Its mouth or physical representation of one, was able to open large enough to encompass his entire upper body. But instead of re-inhabiting him, the entity flew off to find someone better suited, with a sweeter 'flavor'.

On the Bridge

While the entities shook with new found anger, and waited for their hosts to revive, they came up with a plan. Given this new food source and its ability to fight back, they would attempt to save those they could before things went wrong again.

"Spread quickly this time, and use their fancy tech to move the bodies down to the surface." One entity suggested. The others agreed. "They will be out of reach, but preserved to prolong our future."

"Yes. Blood for blood, energy for energy, penance must be paid." They all chanted in their native dialect.

Below them bodies, stunned by the sonic blast, began to stir once more.

Engineering

"Ugh, looks like that's a negative" Rhenora replied as the angry green cloud vanished back into their hosts. It pained her to hurt her own people but unless there was something more severe than a headache, or more lucrative than a ship full of food source, she was running low on options.

What she needed was time.

"What is it you want us to do?" She asked the entity, feeling them close in around her. There wasn't many who were unaffected.

Tom was on his knees as he crawled over to where Rhenora was. His hand closed around his phaser, for some reason it gave him comfort. He waited to hear what the creatures reply was going to be.

As if to answer her, and give her the clarity she sought, one of the hovering entities swooped down and entered her body. It spread its tendrils into her mind, implanting a millennia worth of memories. At the same time, it took from her, a large chunk of her energy along with codes and secrets. "Mmm, your fear is delicious. We see now, your greatest fear is loss and despite your efforts you will lose everything. We MUST eat to survive. You are food. Simple. But here, enjoy some feel good dopamine so you no longer care anymore."

The entity converted a small portion of energy into a large amount of dopamine creating a euphoric feeling within Rhenora. It then began showing her visions which appeared like glass of each of her closest crewmembers being tortured and dying, one after another.

Tom watched in shock and horror as the creature entered Rhenora, speaking softly but with a malicious undercurrent as it told her what it/they wanted. "I think not." He exclaimed and fired his phaser, hitting Rhenora in the chest. "I'm sorry Rhenora." He whispered.

It was only when the stun blast struck that the entity fled Rhenora's body again. A temporary deterrent. The entity hissed at where the blast came from then sped away to find another food source.

It all happened so fast, the feeling of not being in control of one's self, the knowledge that her mind had been pilfered as though someone sifting through a book for information. The dopamine was a wild ride that courses through her veins like a warm fast flowing rivers on which she was carried but the phaser beam dropped her like a rock.

For an instant she lay there, panting from the mental and physical exertion and trying to understand what had just happened. She'd just been compromised.

Kla'ren's attention had been tied up in the jefferies tubes surrounding Main Engineering. He was trying to reroute power from various points in order to get the engines running. He slid out of the tubes into the main room of engineering only to see a borderline horrific scene. Some officers had been compromised, while others were running around frantically trying to get the ship running. All the while the engineering hall was unsecured. In addition, he noticed that the Captain was laying on the ground with Tom hovering over her.

Without hesitation he called out to the computer. "Computer, seal off Main Engineering authorization code Kla'ren-Delta-Gamma-Echo-Foxtrot-Niner" he hoped that engineering would be sealed off but it wouldn't be a guarantee with everything going on.

Thriss turned to Tom as he moved to the central console. "What happened, Lieutenant?"

Tom moved his eyes from Rhenora and to Thriss. " Commander Thriss. The captain after activating the sonic pulse was possessed by one of the creatures. I stunned her and the creature left her." He turned back to Rhenora, "Captain? How are you feeling?"

"Next question?" The Captain replied as she watched the creature pick and choose who it was going to inhabit. "it has my command codes, it has everything" she hung her head for a moment before coming up with a hair rained idea.

"Reroute helm control to this console. Chief, can you get me thrusters? Tom, reroute everything I cluding life support to the thrusters. It's time we took control" she looked her two trusted officers in the eyes.

"Aye Captain" Thriss tapped at the central console to reroute helm control to the designated console. After that he moved to another console near the warp core. "I can get the thrusters online but we'll need that additional power" he tapped at the console for a few moments. "Thrusters online Captain."

Tom was rerouting all available power to the console Rhenora had designated as the helm. It took him some precious seconds, but it was done. "You have all the power there is Rhenora including life support. It's all tied into your console. I even through in the kitchen sink." he said with a small grin.

Taking a moment to confirm her identity with the ships computer and change her command codes, the Captain took a seat at the pseudo helm, and started to steer her ship towards the yellow giant sun in the system. Time to call the creature's bluff. She would rather have her crew die instantly in the raging fire of a sun than slowly eaten alive by this creature.

Tom came alongside the console as Rhenora piloted the Sunfire toward the sun. "Hell of a way to get a tan Rhenora." He quipped as they continued on their course, drawing ever closer with each passing second. We'll get to point where we're get caught in the sun's gravity well and .... well, it will be too late to change course."

"Better than being eaten alive by these creatures. I'll take a sun any day of the week" Rhenora replied as she turned the mighty Sunfire nose first towards the sun. "Tom, monitor the hull temperate, Chief, keep that power up if you can. If we're going to call their bluff it's gonna get hot in here but we'll need to be able to abort"

"You got it." Tom answered crisply and moved over to another console to monitor the hull temperature. It was going to get hot in here very soon.

"On it" The Chief said before moving back to the main console. "I'm routing power from as many systems that we can afford to lose power from to the engines. That way we can make a hasty retreat from the sun" he looked at the Captain. "In the event that we are in there for a long time I'll diverge some of that power to the shields."

The hull of the Akira class Sunfire began to glow with the build up of heat as they neared the sun. It was the ultimate bluff, there was no coming back if the creatures didn't release her people.

The temperature inside Engineering was uncomfortable to say the least. With the heat from the warp core not being rerouted to the rest of the ship to keep it comfortable, the air was thick and hot. Sweat ran in rivulets down the Captain's spine and brow but the ships course did not waver. She opened a com channel to the bridge.

"Release my people or we all die here and now. I'm sure your kind are not impervious to the laws of physics. We cook, then we get crushed, either way, your buffet is fighting back"

TBC