The Hunt For Red O'Hara - Act II
Posted on Saturday 19 January 2019 @ 14:26 by 2nd Lieutenant Bilhana Karki & Commander Cale Llewellyn DSci & Commander Save'ena (Sav) Tillatix & Captain Melody Jones & Commander Caroline Miller & Lieutenant Colonel Kachiko Bayushi & Lieutenant Michael Ki MD & Major David Scarlet & Lieutenant Marbim Rejal & Captain John "Apollo" Barstow, M.D.
Edited on on Sunday 27 January 2019 @ 03:09
Mission:
The New Collective
Location: Deck 9
Timeline: Continuation
5136 words - 10.3 OF Standard Post Measure
Wha' th' feck'r we doin' on Deck Nine?
Creating a diversion.
But there's nothin' on deck nine. Turbolift control is on Deck Ten. Th' only thin' here is th'... Realization dawned on her. ...Main ODN trunk access.
You're smarter than you look... Then again, you'd almost have to be. When I sever the main data trunk, their sensors will be inoperable.
O'Hara bent to work.
Melody stepped out onto deck 9 with a purpose she wasn't entirely certain on, but something inside her told her this was the right thing to do. Going in the other direction was a security officer. She stopped him
"Lieutenant, give me your phaser! Now!"
The young man stopped and blinked. He did not recognise the officer who was shouting at him, but he did see the pips on her collar and snapped to attention "Yes sir, Commander?"
"Jones, now I want you to get the Captain, the CMO and some backup and seal off this deck."
"Aye Sir."
=/\= understood, Captain to all decks, general quarters, repeat, general quarters. Lieutenant O'Hara is to be stopped and taken back to sickbay, non-lethal force,=/\=
The voice came over comms as James made his way down the deck itself. His hands crossed behind him as the ship communications broke him out of his reverie. His eyes going up to the lights as they shifted in color and a frown, "... So it's important enough to order General Quarters.. but we can't defend ourselves completely.." He softly mumbles to himself. The Lieutenant Junior Grade slowly makes his way over to the console, inserting his personal codes and creating a chat link to the shuttle bay. He begins tapping in the instructions to the Ensign on duty. 'Disconnect all fighters and shuttlecraft from computer control and require manual authorizations. Authorization Parker-Peter-Alpha-Pi'. He pauses a moment to wait for the confirmation code from the Ensign and steps back.
A nod to himself, at least the computer shouldn't be able to over ride any of the shuttles - should someone want to escape. Then again he just added a few vital minutes to the work flow of the pilots if they came under attack. It was probably going to be a rough day at some point for James. A soft exhale as he pushed himself forward and began making his way towards his duty station. It would be at this time that he came upon a fully armed Melody.
The Pilot stops a moment and his hands come up. His eyes going to the pips. He frowns a moment, "Commander.." He says slowly, "Lieutenant Junior Grade Parker, Commander Air Group." He introduces himself and motions with his hand as if to indicate the direction she was looking, "How can I be of assistance?"
“At ease Lieutenant.” Melody acknowledged. “A fellow flyer eh? I hope Commander Tillatix is keeping you on your toes around here. We’re going to need some quick thinking and fast reflexes on this one.”
Melody held out her hand “I’m Commander Jones. Melody. I’ve been told our Chief Engineer has had ..... shall we say close communication with the Borg collective and as a result she’s seems to be a bit possessed at the moment and gone AWOL. I’ve had..... some experience with Borg myself and I’ve got a feeling she is close by so I think you better grab a phaser and come with me.”
"So some form of assimilation? That seems like the exact type of thing you want to occur to your Chief Engineer.." James says as he eases a bit, and his hand come to take hers. He nods his head slowly, "I've already ordered that our shuttles and fighters be disconnected from any part of the computer. She wont be able to remotely activate them. She wants off, she'll have to get inside of one." He pauses a moment and nods, "Aye, Sir." Whether it would be by ordering a phaser from another Security Ensign or by utilizing a command console from the ones within a bulkhead.. James would find himself with a Phaser. It is with that he dips his head, "..Do we know where the good Engineer is then?"
“Sounds like you’ve covered all the bases. Good. I’m not sure if it’s a form of assimilation we’re dealing with hear or something else.” Melody felt slightly ether having a fellow pilot with her, and someone who seemed to have his head screwed on right.
“As for the location of our engineer”. Meldoy seemed to go internal for a moment to see if she could pick up on the uneasy feeling she had felt earlier. Suddenty she looked at him “This way. Let’s move!”
She headed off down the corridor. With the Involment of the Borg, Melody was still feeling uneasy and tried to make some small take to take her mind off that uneasy feeling. “I’m a flyer at heart myself. Fresh out of the academy I was assigned as the CFCO of the Merlin. I’m a bit of a speed freak too. Have you been posted here long?”
"You know Commander.. Usually I require some form of dinner when being pumped for information.." Parker makes a mild joke as he continues to follow the woman. He stops as his eyes come upon a door. He calls out, "Commander.." He nods his head over, and then finger coming up. The man reaches over to tap in his security code and then makes his way in. He comes out after a moment - the weapon sheathed on his hip for amoment as he taps onto a device. The door behind closes and locks again. He looks to her and raises the device, "Tricorder.. I've isolated it as well.. Just incase she gets fancy. This should help us incase she tries any tricks on the Merlin.. She wont be able to fool this quite as easy.." He then nods his head, "And sorry.. I've been stationed here a week. First commission as CAG." He shakes his head, "I'm surprised you don't know the roster as well if you've been here for so long.."
“Actually I’ve only just come back on board recently myself. I’ve been away for about 2 years.” She stopped and shot him a look “and you can take me out to dinner later Lieutenant. Come on.”
With a sly wink she turned and continued cautiously down the corridor.
".. Oh? They Transferred you back.. That must feel.. nostalgic." Parker considers that, though surprised at the woman flirting back with him. His eyebrows raise a moment and then follows behind her. He shakes his head, ".. So my question is this.. Why aren't we just flooding this deck with Anesthizine and calling ti a day?"
"Probably because we have at least a dozen crew on this deck, Lieutenant,"came a voice. Coming up the gangway behind them was the small pale Marine commander,an IHADSS visor covering her eyes, a TR rifle and exographic scope in her hands. "Commander Jones. Welcome back to the ship."
"Who would all take a nice nap and be safe from the bad engineer wanting to possibly kill us all.." The Lieutenant returns as he looks back at the Marine. His tone trying to infer no hostility - but just a fact. A shrug of his shoulders, "I'll take a nap to get out of being assimilated." Parker pauses a moment and then steps back, letting the two talk and coming more to attention - being the junior here.
Melody inclined her head to acknowledge the new arrival. "Colonel, I don't suppose you arranged this warm welcome just for me did you? Searching the ship, phasers drawn, possessed crew member. Has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?" She added dryly. "Never a dull moment on this ship is there? Will there be a high speed shuttle chase as well? She then noticed the rifle the woman was carrying "Bringing out the big guns are we...… So what's the plan? Are we giving the Lieutenant a chance to surrender or is it incapacitate with extreme prejudice? She motioned to her own phaser.
Kachiko smirked, "I received notice of your assignment and anticipated arrival several days ago, Miss Jones. When these current shenanigans have abated, we're going to have a chat."
She looked at the rifle, "I only have ammunition in case the dear gets assimilated. Otherwise, it's nonlethal force. Projectile weapons don't qualify. I wanted this for the exographic scope, to aid us in locating our wayward Irish engineer."
Karki followed up behind the Colonel letting the two have there little chat. The comment turning to incapacitate or not. She did realize that she herself had a melee weapon and a Projectile weapon along with her Phaser. But did at in a curt "Where directions are to incapacitate if she's armed.... Coms indicate she's on deck nine, I'm going to send a team down that way to meet up with you and guard the exits to the tube system. I'm heading to Main Engeering, it's basically only guarded by two men and a Engineer right now."
After given the option that is declined, James Parker stays quiet. His weapon stays up as he lets the two continue their conversation - though not interrupting at the moment.
=^=Llewellyn to Barstow. Sir, I think we have her trapped on Deck 9, sir. But she's cut off all turbolift controls so we're all stuck where we are. Sir, I think we may have come to the end of this little hunt for Ms. O'Hara."
Apollo hit the emergency stop and stepped off on deck 5, =/\=copy, Commander, I'm on my way via jefferies tubes,=/\= he called as he stripped off his tunic and climbed in the access hatch.
Stephanie screamed inside her skull. She was destroying her ship. This was the nightmare of the Engineer... Seeing your ship destroyed by your own hands and being powerless to stop it. The Main ODN Trunk for the ship was severed and sensors were down. They were on the move, skulking slowly through a crawlspace.
They know you're missing. They have cut off your computer access to the ship. What security measures are going to be in place?
Eat a buffet o' dick! O'Hara shot back. And regretted it almost immediately. What felt like swords of white hot pain jammed themselves into her mind. She screamed, but she held on.
YOU WILL COMPLY OR I WILL RIP IT FROM YOUR THOUGHTS!
I bloody well will not! Stephanie replied weakly. You won' kill me as long as you need my knowedge of this ship.
Another wave of pain washed over her psyche.
False. Your cooperation is not mandatory.
Then why am I still alive? Just f'r shits an' grins, is it? Is it because ya get yer jollies off it? There was minute long pause before said.. Na, She pondered. It's deeper'n that. It's Bio-Pysical. Without th' brain, th' host dies. She was greeted with another round of hurt. After it subsided she laughed. Hit a nerve, did I?
SILENCE, HUMAN!
Or what? Ye'll kill me? Please say ye'll kill me. Because bein' trapped in here with you is the closest thing t' Hell I can imagine. Hit me wit' yer best shot, ya feckin' geebag. At this point I got nothin' t' lose. As strategies go, this one didn't end well for Stephanie... But at least the rest of the ship would be okay. Grow a pair and off me already ya worthless piece o' shite!
Crippling pain invaded her mind again.
You will die. But why kill one when you can kill a thousand?
Because a thousand is easier. When ya kill indiscriminately, without havin' t' look people in th' eye. Yer a coward. A scared little child with access t' photon torpedoes. Kill me now an' be done with it.
Your hubris began this little adventure. You will see it through to the end.
Where are you taking us?
Why does that matter? You'll be able to do anything to stop me... But if you must know, disabling Life Support sounds like a good idea. You beings do enjoy your oxygen. What happens when you're deprived of it?
Stephanie watched in helpless horror. You can't...
I can, little girl. And I will. The avalanche has already begun. It's too late for the pebbles to vote.
TAG OPEN
Marbim almost drops Stephanie's toy when he hears the Captain's announcement. He dives to the closest keypad, types in a few commands, then says a prayer, "I hoped I would never need to do this, to the powers that guide us, watch over us." As he finishes his commands, using information from Starfleet command, he changes all the access codes to the warp core and engines into his command, and then ties off all other commands with layered protections written in Klingon and Cardassian. "Computer, erect a level 10 security shield around the device on the table. remove it only at my vocal command, Rejal Alpha 1, Starfleet Override Gamma Zeta 1." As a thick screen of protection forms over Stephanie's toy, Marbim begins thinking of where he would go to damage the ship...
Melody paused at a computer wall terminal as they pass and her face fell. "We're going to have to move faster. Someone is trying to compromise life support. She looked at Bayushi "I've got an idea on how to reach O'Hara. We need to provoke a very strong emotional response to reach her so she can break what ever it is controlling her. We might have to...….." she leaned in close and whispered in Bayushi's ear
Kachiko winced when the pretty redhead leaned in close, the breath on her ear making the small woman shiver. Looking up and over at Melody, "I can 'enhance' her emotional state, Commander." Not wanting to inform the junior Officer, she spoke directly into the Security Officer's head, ~Miss Jones. I am a Class-VI telepath and have significant experience using the ability. I may have some luck confusing her and maybe even isolating whatever it is that's possessed her?~'
Melody blinked at the direct mental communication suddenly hitting her square between the eyes. "Sounds like a plan, but a little warning next time..." she added, tapping the side of her head and managing a rueful smile.
=^=Commander Llewellyn to all command level officers. I need a situation report from every command grade officer as soon as possible. Repeat, situation report from all command grade officers on the ship,=^= Cale said into the ship-wide intercom. Llewellyn sat in his chair hating not being in on the hunt but he felt he would be of more help coordinating things from the bridge. He wondered what was going on and that's why he called for the report. He could feel the anxiety and even fear of every crew member on the ship and it made him anxious. He had control of the fear but the anxiety was something he could never gain full control of. Cale wondered where the captain was at the time; it was odd for him not to be on the bridge during a crisis especially one that involved a member of his senior staff.
Melody tapped her comm badge =^= Jones to Llewellyn. I'm on Deck 9 with Bayushi and Parker. We're pretty sure we've got O'Hara confined to this deck however she might be trying to interfere with life support. We're closing in now in an attempt to bring her into custody.
"Thank you, Commander. That's good to know and maybe we can put this entire debacle behind us," Llewellyn said.
Sav his her communicator, =/\= Llewellyn, Tillatix. I am on Deck 39 as per general quarters call and I have all auxilliary craft and runabouts locked down and out.=/\=. Sav received the bios modules from the SCPO on watch. Without those, nothing would or could become active.
Naughty Naughty. You know how to defeat every security measure on this ship, don't you?
I should. I designed most o 'em. For a moment, she sounded prideful, before she remembered the purpose this information was currently being put to.
Stephanie had arrived. The Main life support junction was just on the other side of the bulkhead. All she had to do was release the bulkhead and she was in.
Unfortunately, the computer refused all attempts at accessing it or the security subroutine to open the hatch. Meanwhile, the Lieutenant Colonel had gone silent and kept moving while her eyes were distant, seemingly watching nothing around them.
Suddenly Stephanie 'heard' a voice, "Hey, over here!" from the passageway behind her at the T-junction. When she turned to look, no one was there. This was followed by, "No, this way!" from Stephanie's left. When she turned to look, there was again, nothing.
Then, "No, silly! I'm over here!" from the passageway to the right. When she looked, there was a flash of motion as something ran around the corner, quick enough that Stephanie couldn't get more than a fraction of a glimpse of brightly-colored cloth.
This meat thinks they're clever, trying to bait me into a trap. Time to change the plan.
Without a word, She drew the phaser she had taken off the security guard and leveled it at the Main Life support junction, released the pressure door and slipped into the space.
"Show yourselves or I destroy your life support system." She spoke aloud finally, raising her voice. She sounded... Odd. It was O'Hara's voice, but it wasn't O'Hara's accent.
Marbim taps his combadge, a sneaky grin on his face, =^= "Rejal to Llewellyn, Sir i'm alone here in Main Engineering. I've uncoupled the warp core and am in the process of dumping it into space sir, oh, and I doubt that O'Hara would give a shit whether or not I pee on it before I blast this 'useless piece of shitte' (says with her accent), off the ship! Rejal out sir!" =^= Looking around for the darkest place around him, Marbim backs into it with his disruptor set on the lightest setting. His sneaky grin is still on his face as like a kid caught with their hand in a cookie jar, he's hoping to draw the Chief Engineer to him ...
=^=Thank you, Mr. Rejal. But do not eject the warp core without my authorization! I repeat Do NOT eject the warp core!=^= Cale bellowed over his combadge.
Feeling useless at the moment, Marbin sits at a terminal and sends a coded message to seveal people, on the off chance that O'Hara might overhear him if he uses his combadge...
=^= Marbim here, Dr Ki, or anyone in medical, can we use the sickbay transporter to remove the presence from O'Hara? We have a clean transport log from earlier that we can use as her baseline? =^=
=/\=Negative Lieutenant. The presence has bonded itself into her brain directly. A transporter cleansing will not do the trick.=/\= Ki responded from Sick Bay as he monitored O'hara's movements with the adjusted sensors.
Karki half charged and half stocked into Main Engineering, she didn't' want to get shot by a jumpy crew member. But she caught sight of Marbim right away. The three marines with her coming in behind her. "Spread out take positions as you see hit." She moved over to the Cardassian, standing almost a foot and a half taller then her. "Where pretty sure she's on deck nine near the life support system. But I have orders to secure Main Engineering Lieutenant." She kind of got the indication that she was likely ruining a attempt to hide in wait by Marbim.
Looking at his disruptor, and then the firepower the marines were packing, Marbim puts his gun away. "I've been wracking my brain on what 'I' would do to cripple the ship, that's why I locked everyone out of the warp core controls and have been kind of waiting for O'Hara to come and get me."
The Marine officer gave him a nod. "And the reason that we came down, We think she went for the life support but still, might be a diversion. But I'm glad some one was here Lieutenant... I don't believe we have met, but I suppose now is not the time for long introductions. I'm Lieutenant Karki we can keep it at that for now."
"Karki, I've heard that name in one of our briefings. I'm Marbim Rejal, Chief of Operations, Lieutenant junior grade, if I can keep myself out of trouble. I think I scared Commander Cale when I reported I was going to dump the warp core...I don't know who or what O'Hara ran into, but there are two signatures on that device of hers, The Borg, and something else I've never seen or read about. That's why I locked it behind a level 10 security field." He points to the dark shielded blob on a workstation.
She looked and gave a nod. "Good call overall, but I think we are most likely just sitting here, last information I got she was going for a different target. But I agree with you. Might be a diversion."
TAG
At the communication from Cale, Caroline responded. =^=Counseling here. No change. We are still waiting on the apprehension of O'Hara=^=
It was really all she could say right now. She knew something was up and this situation had likely got more complicated as this seemed to be taking a long time especially with a strong telepath and what she knew of a rather impulsive Commander Jones who she had just received word was on the ship were involved. Caroline bit her lip, it was her experience if there was any situation, Melody would head straight for the centre of it guns blazing like a moth to the flame.
=^=Thank you, Counselor. She's on Deck 9 and I think this hunt is about over,=^= Cale said.
From around the corner, Melody calmly stepped out. She was making no concealment of the phaser in her hand. As she spoke she walked towards O'Hara.
"I don't believe we've met but I'm Commander Jones. Lieutenant O'Hara can call me Melody. Who ever you are, I don't really care what you call me. From how you've circumvented the security protocols I can tell that the Lieutenant is still in there." She paused and looked at the open panel behind her and let out a low whistle of respect. "Now she is either really fighting you or with all due respect, is a piss poor engineer. I could have crippled life support in half this time. And the way the sensors were disabled...... please! A first year cadet could have done a better job. Actually come to think of it I'm surprised that this ship hasn't fallen apart already."
O'Hara's mouth laughed a deep, rich, maleveloent soundling laugh. "That's your grand plan? Insulting her work?" The laugh bubbled up in the engineer's throat again. "What makes you think she's still alive? I ripped what I needed from her mind and gave her a far more merciful end than she deserved. Your O'Hara is powerless to stop me. You are powerless to stop me."
LIAR! O'Hara screamed in the confines of her own skull.
As they say in your colorful vernacular: 'No shit, Sherlock'. Why would I give them any factual information?
They know yer na me.
And do you think knowing that will make them any less dead?
Melody smirked at her. "Well the phaser I have in my hand and the fact that yours are trembling say otherwise on both counts. Come now. A ship runs on its engineer and she would know every weakness, if they were any good that is. The fact we are still here talking and the ship has not been reduced to a cloud of dust is fact insulting. Even if I wasn't possessed, I could blow up this ship and make it look like an accident, mind you, judging from the state of warp plasma conduits this ship should have blown up already."
Melody folded her arms "O'Hara this ship is a mess. Is that why you've given up and surrendered to this...... thing. So you've got an excuse to coverup this shoddy work? And your hair is a mess too, " she added.
Did that old, used up dye-bottle ginger bitch jus' tell me my hair was a mess?
I have been torturing you for hours, using your body to destroy your ship and terrorize your crew, and THAT'S what you're most upset about?"
Tha' feckin' wagon! I'll feckin' kill her!
Without a word, the phaser dropped to the floor as Stephanie charged at Melody, her arms outstretched, grabbing for the Commander's throat.
Melody suddenly found herself pinned to the deck fighting for her life. 'You just had to insult her hair' She thought to herself as the two officers struggled.
Now Melody knew how to handle herself but the lieutenant was putting up one hell of a fight. Melody managed to call out "Are you going to just stand there or are you going to DO SOMETHING!!"
"I thought you might have it handled all on your own, dahling," Kachiko drawled inches behind O'Hara's ear. Suddenly, a duranium-hard arm wrapped around the Lieutenants throat and with a mighty yank, the lovely Irish Engineer was yanked backwards, landing on her back atop of the small Marine Covert Operator. Wrapping her up good, Kachiko locked in the rear naked choke, while surreptitiously probing into Stephanie's mind.
In O'Hara's mind, there seemed to be nothing but a constant static. There were no thoughts as humans would understand them.
This one is trying to probe your mind
Yer mind.
Trying to strangle a superior officer won't look good on your service record... Though I must say, stellar work. You beings tie far too much worth to physical appearance. It's a wonder you don't start wars about it. Now that you've had your little hissy fit, I'll take over again before you derail my plan any further with your emotional outbursts.
Like hell ya will!
Like you'll be able to stop me. You are weak. You're a frightened child, hiding under your covers from the monsters under your bed, trying to convince yourself that you're not scared.
Stephanie fought to retain control against this thing overwhelming her mind. It was too strong. It was going to win. It was going to destroy the ship and there wasn't a blessed thing she could do to stop it. She was too weak.
The O'Hara thing struggled against the surprisingly strong Kachiko, attempting to claw the arm away from her windpipe. In short order, it realized that it couldn't pry the hand free, so it rocked backward on it's heels, allowing the added weight of another person to topple them backward. The net result was that both hit the deck hard, with Kachiko on the bottom, hitting the cold metal floor first and Stephanie's body landing on top of her.
Kachiko winced as she slammed into the deck, yet still had her hold on the struggling engineer. However, she would find herself dazed as the back of her head bounced off the deck, her hold slacking.
Coughing badly and aching all over, Melody dragged herself to her feet to see O'Hara and Bayushi locked in close quarters. Melody suspected that the marine was also trying to reach O'Hara's mind. Glancing down, she saw the phaser that she had been carrying earlier. She retrieved it just in time to see O'Hara get the upper hand and now force the Marine to the deck, her arm wrapped around her throat.
"Not good!" Melody said aloud to no one in particular, then making a snap decision, set the weapon to maximum stun. She aimed at O'Hara and fired.
O'Hara's body rolled off Kachiko's and slumped to the deck, unconscious.
Melody managed a weak smile "Sorry about that....." she got out between breaths to Bayushi "Someone had to stop this madness." She looked at Parker "Better get her to the brig! I'll just rest here a moment" and with that, she slid back down the wall, landing on the deck with a pomp.
Kachiko was unfortunately too dazed for a response, her vividly blue eyes distant.
It all happened so quickly, that Parker was taken by a bit of surprise. His phaser coming up as the two battled it out - he couldn't get a direct shot. As soon as the woman is stunned and the order given, he nodded his head. His voice coming out, " Aye, Sir." He watched her a bit concerned but then moved to pick up and move the women to the brig.
Melody managed to tap her comm badge "Jones to bridge. Situation contained. Lieutenant O'Hara in custody. If someone can get a doctor down here, that would be great. Myself and Colonel Bayushi need medical assistance"
=^=Wonderful, Commander Jones. I'll have someone from Sickbay report to your location,=^= Llewellyn said relieved at that report. Wait! When had Melody returned? And how had she gotten on board without his knowing about it? "What has ole Barstow got up his sleeve?
OFF:
LTjg Stephanie O'Hara
Chief Engineer
USS Merlin
Commander Cale Llewellyn
Chief of Strategic Operations
Second Officer
USS Merlin
Commander Melody Jones
Second Officer / CSO
USS Merlin
Ltjg Marbim Rejal
Chief of Operations
USS Merlin
Counselor Caroline Miller
Chief Counselor
USS Merlin
Dr Michael Ki
Chief Medical Officer
USS Merlin
Captain John "Apollo" Barstow
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin
Task Group Commanding Officer
Task Group 47-A
Lieutenant Colonel Bayushi Kachiko
Company Commander, USS Merlin
Commander Save'ena Tillatix
CFCO/Bridge Command Specialist
USS Merlin
2nd Lieutenant Bilhana Karki
Company Executive Officer
USS Merlin
