Information Overload
Posted on Sunday 2 December 2018 @ 20:13 by 2nd Lieutenant Bilhana Karki & Lieutenant Marbim Rejal & Captain John "Apollo" Barstow, M.D.
Edited on on Sunday 27 January 2019 @ 08:10
Mission:
The New Collective
Location: Shuttle Pendragon
Timeline: Concurrent with "Unusual Borg" and "Attack"
2457 words - 4.9 OF Standard Post Measure
=/\="Shuttlebay One t' Bridge." =/\= Stephanie's voice sounded nervous. =/\="I've been scannin' and I think I've found our new buddy. Shuttle Pendragon requestin' launch clearance."=/\=
=/\= Affirmative, Pendragon, launch but keep your distance until Merlin and Agamemnon have engaged.=/\=
=/\= "Understood Merlin. Wish us luck. See ya on th' otha side. Pendragon out." =/\=
She looked over at Miles in the pilot seat and grimaced. "Ya ready? She asked.
Miles smiles back, "I believe the appropriate response is, I was born ready, however, let's go find you a new friend to play with. I'll try to keep up hidden under the Merlin, unless we need to get closer, then I'll slide us in under the Agamemnon." Miles touches a few controls and the shuttle eases out of the Merlin. Muttering while maneuvering, Miles begins repeating, "Today is a good day to die, Today is a good day to die," almost like a mantra...
"Bite yer tongue ya bloody Spoon-head," Stephanie said attempting to sound more playful and less nervous than she actually felt. "We're na headed t' Sto'Vo'Kor just yet...
"Just something to keep my mind from not worrying about stuff, like the Borg, or us dying, or worse, us being assimilated..." Miles hasn't taken his eyes off his control console, paying careful attention to where he is 'hiding'
"Jus' fly th' ship, boyo," O'Hara rolled her eyes. "I'm headin' t' the back."
"Just let me know where our new friend is, and I'll swoop in to gather them up," and then under his breath Miles adds, "and hopefully not die in the process..."
The rear cabin held a single Biobed. It wasn't large enough to contain much else aside from a table and a couple people. Stephanie looked around and began making adjustments on the PoVI. She looked over and saw the Marine standing there. "Get settled in, Lieutenant. It's bound t' be a bumpy ride."
Karki had piled into the shuttle and put her equipment down, the standard phaser rifle as well as leather holster conatining a edge weapon and what looked to be a 20th century firearm of some make. giving O'hara a nod as she was addressed. "I would expect a bumpy ride for this to be honest." She had produced what seamed to be a compact and started to paint her face from the cheek bones up with gold and red paint. A red diamond on her forehead between her eyes, and the red gold. "Just get us there and I'll do my best to keep up alive, well and un-assimilated."
"That's a good lass," She said distractedly as she began tapping at a console. After a few moments, The Engineer handed the Marine a Hypospray. "I'mma need ya t' give me a hand wit' this one, El Tee," She said. "There's enough sedative in there t' knock out a Plygorian Mammoth for a week. When our new buddy shows up, 'it him with that."
She nodded, taking the leather holster and putting it on, the whole thing fitting over her left side and breast, taking the hypospray and putting it in one of the pouches of the holster. "Right, so hopefully I wont need any of the other gear I brought with me."
"It's th' Engineer's motto. Better t' have it an' na need it than need it an' na have it." O'Hara offered sagely, nodding like she had had just said something very profound.
"Agreed and I tend to over plan anyways" She had finished applying the face paint stopping to clean her hands. The effect on her face seaming to look rather like a face mask with a red third eye in the center of her forehead. "All we need to do now is make this plan go off without a hitch."
"...I wouldn' bet th' farm on that one." O'Hara deadpanned. "Nothin' is foolproof. We fools are too smart... Speakin' o' which..." She looked back to the far aft compartment, took a deep breath and yelled. "Ya can't hide in th' back until it's over, Boyo! Get yerself out here an' get geared up."
A timid looking ensign in a blue uniform came skulking out of the back compartment, tying her hair up in a ponytail. "Ensign Matthews," She said in a meek tone, "Reporting as ordered." It was clear from her tone and manorisms that she would rather be anywhere else than on this shuttle.
O'Hara looked her up and down and gave a sly half-grin to Kakri. "I see our commando team's ready. With that she tapped her combadge.
=/\= "Pendragon t' Merlin," =/\= The chief Engineer's voice came over the comms. =/\= "We're comin' up on th' beam-out coordinates. When I activate the dampenin' field, we'll lose comms. Keep us covered an' Miles'll get at ya with a status report when we drop th' field." =/\=
With that, Stephanie cut the comm line and activated the intercom to the cockpit. =/\= "I got him! Execute O'Hara-Whiskey-Tango-One immediately after transport. It'll scramble all subspace signals. We'll lose comms with the Merlin, but that won' be a thing f'r too long. I'm sendin' ya the coordinates now." =/\=
"Acknowledged. Computer dim the lights to match that of the interior of a Borg cube. "Let me know if our new friend likes the mood lightning or not. Once he, she, it, they, are onboard i'll be doing some fancy maneuvering, hopefully staying the hell away from everybody while you do your thing!" Miles looks over at the navigation array, 'Computer, once Chief O'Hara signals that the transport is complete, execute O'Hara-Whiskey-Tango-One. In addition maximize our shields for as long as possible..."
"Computer, restore illumination t' standard levels," Stephanie ordered before she reactivated the intercom. "I couldn't give three quarters of a submarinin' feck if he's happy with th' lightin'. We're kidnappin' him, na takin' him onna bloody date. ETA to docking?"
"I've got us as close as I can get to the cube. Dowing the power to minimal will allow the computer to keep the shuttle at station-keeping until we beam back in with our guest and whatever intel we can gather, lets go!" Making sure his disruptor is secured, Miles grabs his own melee weapon, a klingon spear. Making his way back to the transporter pad he says, "Computer once we are on board monitor us for any changes in our life signs. Beam us out should they go outisde of standard parameters, otherwise we will communicate when we are rady to beam out with a fourth person in attendance."
Looking to Karki, "Well you got dressed for a dance, lets see if the Borg can two-step or not." Once Karki and Matthews are on the pad, Miles will instruct the computer to "beam us to the location I noted."
O'Hara nodded to the team. "By th' numbers, people. We get ya in, We get ya out. Ya have five minutes, na a second more. Th' computer terminal is gonna be 10 meters down th' corridor from th' beam-in site. I'mma initiate a simultaneous transport. You go in, and our new Borg friend comes out. I'll get 'im hooked up and drop th' subspace barrier, lock on t' yer combadges and bring ya back. Any questions?"
Matthews raised a trembling hand. "Is there a way you can get us closer?"
"Newp," O'Hara responded. "Any others?"
"Double nope, and energize perhaps?"Miles utters with a cocky smile.
"Yer in an awfully big hurry t' head inta th' lion's den," O'Hara shot back, pressing a few buttons on the console.
=/\="Pendragon t' Merlin," O'Hara said. "Initiating transport. Comms'll be offline for th' next five minutes." =/\=
"Energizin'."
One moment in the shuttle, the next the 'away' team materializes in the corridor of the Borg cube. The light is dim, the temperature is probably a little high for O'hara and Karki, but MIles enjoys it. Looking at his padd strapped to one arm he makes a few notes. "I located what appeared to be a communication node in this section. We should find it, and then look for any Borg that looks like a target. I'll leave that part to you Chief, i'm here to gather the hard data, not the walking data."
Karki noted the temperature, and also noted that it was at the very least a dry heat. Looking around, while she didn't like being on a borg cube, they weren't trying to "eat" them yet. That was at least something, and they didn't need to give them a reason to get hungry. "I'll be right with you, you go your think, hopefully I wont have anything to do."
Matthews took a few steps down the corridor, looking around like she expected to have something jump out and tear her head off at any moment. She looked over to Miles. "This is it," she said as she pulled out her tricorder. "We have to break the encryption codes and get as much data as we can." She began pressing buttons on the console and looked over to Miles. "
Miles pulls sevreal devices from his tool belt. "Each of these will gather as much information as they can. Matthews, once you're in, plug them in and grab as much info as you can. We can work on deciphering it once we're safe on Merlin." He prepares biogenic data storage devices that will download and store the information. Miles takes a moment to look around, "Karki, I don't see any Borg, and I don't hear any Borg, is that a bad thing?" Grabbing his tricorder Miles sets about finding the nearest regeneration chamber....
Matthews frowned at Miles. She looked around, her head darting back and forth. Something thumped in the distance. She found herself clinging to Miles' shoulder as she asked "What was that?"
Looking at his readouts Miles mutters, "This says its a Borg, but it also says he should be within visual range, but I don't see anything, maybe something in here is interfering with our devices. Stay here!" Looking towards the marine, "Karki, cover me..." Miles stealthily wanders down the corridor. Coming to a 'T' intersection he looks both ways, then sees a battle-damaged borg heading his way, followed by two more intimidating drones. Carefully recording what he sees, Miles captures the two drones begin removing pieces and parts from the damaged drone, and storing them in a drawer. Once they remove the 'useful bits' they disintegrate the damage drone, and then walk back the way they came. Swallowing hard, Miles waits will they go away before making his way up to the drawer. Inside are a multitude of cybernetic pieces and parts, all bearing fluids and bits of flesh. He scans them, finds some neural pathways and what amounts to a replacement brain, gathers those up in a gear bag and almost runs into Karki as she has come looking for him...
"Who's gonna cover me?" Matthews asked shakily as she began interfacing her tricorder.
Karki followed Miles pretty closely, but she didn't pull her weapon. She didn't want to give the drones any reason to consider them a threat. She knew from reports and a bit of first hand experience how that worked. But Matthews was right it was a real issue that there where two people protect and only one Karki to go around. "We will be back shortly."
"That doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence," Matthews shot back. For her own part, she looked like a cat watching a tennis match. Her head darted back and fourth. After a few moments her tricorder beeped. "I'm in!" she exclaimed. "Lieutenant Rejal, we need the storage devices." Looking down, Matthews can see that Miles left the devices, which are now fully powered up, at their feet.
Meanwhile, On the Shuttle...
Stephanie was feverishly pressing making adjustments to the PoVI as the Borg on the surgical table thrashed and battered at the force field keeping him immobile. It gurgled incomprehensible rage at her as she took a hypo from the table and jammed it into his neck. "Nighty night, ya gobshite," She said to it... It didn't care but it made her feel better.
A soft beeping came from the console and the computer intoned "Five Minutes has elapsed."
"Well, shite," O'Hara grimaced. "I'm na done yet. Nothin' t' do f'r it." She plugged the PoVI into the Borg's data node and said to the computer. "Drop th' subspace field, lock on t' th' away team an' beam them back."
When the team beamed back, they saw Stephanie slumped into a chair, sitting immobile with the Borg on the table. She didn't welcome them back. In fact, she didn't acknowledge them at all.
Matthews looked at the Engineer, cocking her head to one side. "Is she alright?"
As Matthews stared at her, Stephanie was suddenly a flurry of movement. She gasped deeply and began scrabbling at her data port to disengage it. "JESUS HAROLD CHRIST! GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT!" She screamed. As she finally managed to disengage the disk it fell to the floor. Having accomplished that, she sagged back in to the chair. She looked aghast at the Borg, still on the bed. "Miles, kindly get rid o' that feckin' thing. I don' care what ya do with it, jus' get it th' Hell offa this ship."
"Yes Mam. Computer, beam that drone into space, then lock onto it and blast it with phasers until its dust!" he stores his loot in a locker, "Karki, see to O'Hara, I'm getting us the hell outta here!"
"Understood," O'Hara sighed as she tapped her comm badge.
=/\= "Pendragon t' Merlin. Mission accomplished. We're headin' back t' th' barn." =/\=
Miles applies all his piloting skills to get them back to the Merlin. Once the comms are working again he calls in, "Merlin, this is Pendragon, please have a medical team standing by to check out Chief O'Hara, she's had a rough time with her date." As soon as the shields drop, Miles slides the shuttle into the landing bay. "Alright people, lets get off this ship. I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel like I need a real shower and a tankard of bloodwine!"
TAG ALL
2nd Lieutenant Bilhana Karki
Company Executive Officer
USS Merlin
Lt jg Marbim "Miles" Rejal
Chief of Operations
USS Merlin
LTjg Stephanie O'Hara
Chief Engineer
USS Merlin
