Do You Really Wanna Hurt Me

Posted on Tue Dec 5th, 2023 @ 9:57pm by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Lieutenant Commander Thriss Kla'ren & Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Lieutenant Thomas Haldeman & Lieutenant Alison Haldeman & Remal Kajun

Mission: Halloween
Location: USS Sunfire
Timeline: Current

-SNIP-
"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"
-SNIP-

Bridge

One the bridge, the entities had taken to marching everyone together in a straight line towards the turbolifts and were loading them two by two and shuttling them towards the transporter room. It had only been a couple of minutes since the sonic pulse but they were coordinating their efforts to bring the food from the ship to the planet. So far, none had been transported as the power was diverted.

Suddenly they had stopped. Sensing the ship was not moving away from 'the rest' and the atmospheric pressures were getting warmer, they simply stopped.

Then, the air began to get thinner and their hold on these humanoids weakened. As if clinging onto a dying animal as it began to have difficulty breathing, all they could do once more was let go. They came together and conversed.

Bonnie, had found herself just within reach of the transporter room. Remal was nearby struggling to breath. She crawl over to him, her mind racing. "Are you... okay?" She asked knowing he was likely hurting just as much as she was.

He chuckled, "No, not really, but... I know Rhen is making the only... ugh, choice she can make."

"Sacrificing us and the ship to kill... before being killed." Bonnie huffed back as she sat with her back against the wall next to him. Her mind raced as she pictured all of the things she had yet to do with her young life but she kept coming back to the creatures. The had killed the warp core by draining its energy. They had killed the main computer in the same manner.

Epiphany struck, "Remal... they're made of energy. Literally made of energy." Her mind was struggling to focus because the lack of focus. "The sun wont kill them, but... but... what if we can... can..."

"Go on lass, what if we can what?" Remal prodded, his eyes beginning to close. His shirt coated in sweat.

"We can use their energy against them. They ate the anti-matter. We can jump start the drive and then trap them with the anti-neutronic power flow of the shield array. If... if only we had time."

Remal turned his head to the side, "EV suit." He pointed. "Closet."

Bonnie followed his eyeline and her eyes widened. She would have the oxygen she needed and be shielded from the heat. If only she could get there in time...

Alison was already out for the count, the heat too much for her body in his pregnant state.

Engineering

Rhenora sat propped up against the console, her eyes fixed on the target. The ship would burn, her people would die, but it was preferable to the alternative.

She thumbed open a ship wide channel.

"All hands, this is the Captain." She started, the. Paused, considering what she wanted to say. Mostly it was 'I'm sorry I'm going to kill you all' but she also wanted to issue a warning.

"As you may have guessed we are flying into a sun. If the creatures won't release their control we will burn in it's fires. I will not allow you all to be used as a food source. " Her voice faltered "I'm sorry, but I have made this decision for all of you. I hope you can forgive me"

Tom looked up from his console. "You're doing what you have to do Rhen. Making the hard decision. For what it is worth I support your decision."

Thriss looked up for a moment from the console he was working at. "As do I" he nodded.

Transporter Room

Moving at thruster speed was a long, slow way to die. Without life support, they would likely suffocate first. For Bonnie, she had managed to find enough strength to crawl into the closet and slip on an EV. It instantly provided oxygen and the cooling she needed. Grabbing a spare oxygen rebreather, she came back out and handed it to Remal who took a breath and immediately began helping others.

"We've got to get Engineering's attention." Bonnie said as she pressed buttons on the transporter pad control panel. "We need shields, if only at 10% power it should be enough. The... uh... the creatures will try to leave but we can trap them here, in the layer between the shields and the ship... if we can time it right." She continued to monologue her plan.

Remal came over, "Okay, how do you intend to get their attention? Engineering is probably as well off as we are. Dead or dying."

"Well... all of the power was diverted right?" She paused for him to nod his understanding even though he didn't really get it. "If I can toggle, from here, the power relays to the main console in Engineering... it will look like, at least to Thriss, that something has gone wrong."

"At this point anything is better than nothing." Remal commented before returning to sharing his rebreather with the others.

Entity

The entity watched and collaborated and agreed. They didn't want to give up their meal. But they were too proud to beg and too few to control everyone. They unanimously agreed to try turning the ship themselves back towards the planet and if that plan failed, they would wait until the ship was gone before heading back.

As each green blob came together, the density of the whole grew larger. The majority of them were now consolidating within Main Engineering, still trying to suckle life where they could. One after another joined the collection until the last one arrived and looked at the suffering group with pity. And then the whole mass sped up and out of the ship.

Once in space, they began spreading thinly at the bow. They weren't enough to cover a quarter of the ship, but once there, they attempted to use their collective might to change the ship's direction.

Engineering

"Thriss, I'm getting some kind of resistance from the port side, our trajectory is off. Without sensors I can't determine what it is" the air was thin and superhot in Engineering, making every breath hard and painful. The oxygen was low, and the Captain's head was beginning to swim. Just a little long and they would be caught in the sun's corona and it would all be over.

"Tom, can you get a visual?" She added, nothing the most people who were still conscious no longer had the green tinge in their eyes. The creatures had left them.

"Working on it." Tom answered as he worked the controls on the console to get them an outside view. "Hold on... one more second. There." He answered as an exterior shot came into focus, showing a massive green blob on covering a portion of the bow. "The creatures?" He asked looking over at Rhenora.

"Must be, they're making a last ditch effort to avoid going into the sun" Rhenora replied as she shucked off her uniform jacket. Not that it would help with the thinning air or blistering heat. Just a few more minutes.

Everywhere around them people were succumbing to the conditions, several were unconscious, many were merely gasping for air. So far Thriss, Tom and herself were somewhat functional, but they wouldn't be for much longer. "Computer, engage autopilot on my last course and speed" she ordered, making sure that even if she passed out that the ship would reach it's destination.

Thriss moved over to an auxiliary console against a bulkhead. "I'm attempting to bring some sensors back online without losing engine power. "I can't guarantee that they'll work let alone be worth something right now." If they were going to be dead soon it would be worthless to bring sensors online but this way it would be easier to see anything or anyone that tried to prevent the Captain's plan."

He looked back at Rhenora. "Captain, if the entities succeed in getting us off course, I recommend setting the auto-destruct if the beings haven't disabled it yet."

"Do we have enough power?" The words were simple but filled with hope. To set the warp core to explode was better than roasting in a sun, and better than being some creatures lazy long lunch.

Thriss tapped a few buttons and made a few quick calculations. "If we reroute some of the power from the engines and life support, we could without losing thrust in the event that the self destruct doesn't work."

"Already on it." Tom spoke as his worked the console. "Alright I've reroute a portion of power from the engines and life support. Our thrust will be maintained so even if the self-destruct doesn't work the sun will do the job."

There was a moment of pause, reflection in the face of certain doom. It was the failsafe, the contingency if something happened to them and the ship was unable to fly into the sun.

"Computer, engage autodestruct, audible countdown, set for 5 minutes" the last tenure of strength she had was slipping away. "Authorisation Kaylen Gamma 4 alpha tango"
The edges of her vision dimmed and her body finally relaxed.

TBC