Groundfall

Posted on Friday 14 June 2019 @ 19:05 by Captain Melody Jones & Lieutenant Michael Ki MD & Lieutenant Marbim Rejal

Mission: The New Collective
Location: Borg Ravaged Colony World
Timeline: Following Getting Answers
2665 words - 5.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Backstory: The Merlin had been attacked by the Borg. Trying to determine why the Borg were being so aggressive Chief Engineer O'Hara hooked herself into a captured drone. A being calling itself the "Puppet Master" took her over and attempted to blow up the Merlin. Both were stopped. Having found a second Borg cube in the vicinity, Captain Barstow and Commander Jones took a fighter to attach a beacon on the Cube. They were beamed out of the fighter craft and into the Borg Cube. The crew of the Merlin was able to beam off Commander Jones, but not Captain Barstow before the Cube self-destructed. During this time, Commander Llewellyn also disappeared off the ship, seemingly by an undetected beam out. An away team has been sent to the surface of a Federation Colony World to investigate a shielded area, to look for clues into the Puppet Master, and to why the Borg are acting the way they are, and to look for any survivors.

As the eight team members materialize, Marbim realizes how long it has been since he has literally walked on a planets surface. Looking at the marine element, Marbim quietly says, "Gentlmen would you please check out our immediate area. The shielded area is around 100 meters that way (points northhwest). We will get some initial scans here and then begin moving that way." Tapping his combadge he says, "Captain were on the planet. There's an odor here, one I haven't smelled in a long time, death. Just by the looks of things, the Borg used their cutting beams to literally mow down buildings and vegetation. The marines are scouting our perimeter and we will head towards our objective once we taken some initial scans of the area, any change or amendments to our orders?"

Michael began to scan the area with his tricorder. He was looking for life signs, as he looked the amount of death and destruction caught the doctor slightly off guard. He was impassive and cold at times but this magnitude did not escape him. The medical kit hung heavy on his shoulder as the thought of this once busy colony now being so empty, and desolate. He could not fathom what would have made the Borg become so aggressive. The tricorder began to sound it's alert, which took Michael's attention from the surroundings. He saw the faint indicators of life. "Ladies and gentlemen there are some people alive, barely but they are alive. We have to make our way to them and get them to the ship."

Melody voice came over the comm. =/\= No change Number one, proceed as discussed with caution. Something about this feels wrong. No unnecessary risks understood?=/\=

Hearing the voice of the Commander, Michael turned to address Marbim. "Lieutenant there are people alive there. Permission to take two Marines and rescue them." Michael was not used playing the hero, nor did he like it. However, he was a doctor and did swear and oath. He would not leave those people there to die.

"Doctor, let's all go together, splitting us up only makes it easier to take us out, and I don't trust this planet one bit. And if we can't get to them, or this looks too much like a trap, we're leaving them here. I'm not going to give the Borg, or the Puppet Master or whoever is pulling the strings down here to take any more of our crew. If we need to, we've got some spare communicators these 'wounded' can use to get beamed directly to sickbay, if thats ok with you."

"Yes beaming them back under quarintine protocols would be a lot better than leaving them here. The first of the injuries is about 1700 yards due west of this location." Ki spoke as he looked at his tricorder.

"Well then, let's not keep them waiting any longer. Set phasers to heavy stun at this point, I don't want to add injury to insult. Let's keep our eyes and ears open too, we might find clues on this trek we'd otherwise miss."

Moving up close to Doctor Ki, Marbim will quietly ask, "On the off chance that the people we find are already being assimilated, do you have a way to reverse the procedure." Looking down for a second then looking back up he adds, "If they're Borg infected by the Puppet Master how would you want us to handle that situation?"

"We can deassimilate anyone, that is relatively easy nowadays. However, if the Drone is infected by the Puppet Master that is an unknown variable. The other question is how or can we know the difference. For the time being let us transport all survivors up to the ship and into the fields that are established. We can sort them out from there." Michael responded grimly, the truth was he did not like having to transport potential threats up to the ship but there did not seem to be a choice.

"When did all this get so hard. At the Academy, they used to spin us tales of the 'Good Old Days' when we had to worry about the Klingons, Romulans, and Andorians. Now we have rogue Borg being controlled by some sinister intellect, ugh. Ok, so any survivors go to the ship. We may or may not want to send any deceased we find to the Merlin too, if nothing else, so we can report their passing on to Starfleet Command."

Ki nodded in agreement. "Quite so! They will have to be sent to the morgue, and unfortunately it will be my grim duty to alert their family." Michael looked at the Cardassian a moment as he spoke. There was a part of Michael's brain that was worried about that last outburst, it was quite unbecoming. However, they were under stress rather than say anything Michael decided that he would keep an eye on him for the rest of the mission.

Looking at the Doctor, "If you need assistance in writing those letters please ask. These colonists risked their lives to come here in the first place, their families need to know that they were resolute to the end. Now, how close are we to the injured persons, I can see the wreckage of some buildings kind of where we are heading." Tapping his combadge he reports in, =^= Captain, we are closing in on some ruins or wreckage, that is where Doctor Ki detected life signs. Once on site, we will apprise you of who or what we find. Also, can you please have some security personnel head for the morgue so we can beam up any remains that we find, we'd like to be able to let their families know of their passing if we can identify them. =^=

Ki nodded in response to Marbim. In short order they arrived at the first survivor. This person was unconcious and the vital signs were barely present. However, they were alive. Ki was unsure if they had any internal signs of assimilation. Externally there were none. "This patient is barely alive, my suggestion is to transport them into the quarentine on the ship and a stasis field. This way they will not perish while we figure out what is going on here." Ki addressed Marbim as he was in charge of the mission.

"That sounds great Doctor. Let's use one of those extra communicators, I'll alert the ship." =^= Sickbay, this is Leiutenent Rejal, we have one to beam aboard, unconscious but breathing, Doctor Ki says to obey quarantine protocols even though they show no outward signs of assimilation. The survivor is ready to beam out =^=

Looking around and checking his own tricorder Rejal continues, "I'm guessing this area was designed for habitation or a park. I'm reading water beneath us a few hundred feet. Is the other survivor you picked up in this same locale? I'm not reading any life signs around us, other than plants, and maybe a cat or dog..." scanning he turns about 30 degrees, "that way, something small and alive, but may be trapped, want to check it out?"

He has been wavering on the edge of consciousness with a nasty head wound that was bleeding badly. His legs were pinned by a fallen beam and he was partly covered by a roof plate that had probably saved him from being finished off. The sound of voices focused him. Were those monsters coming back? Rallying his strength, he picked up his phaser that had landed next to him when he had been knocked down and waited. When he saw Starfleet uniforms and thought Thank god..... I'm saved..... He managed to call out "........Over here!"

=/\= Jones to away team, any developments?"=/\=

=/\= "We just located another survivor. They are partially buried under some rubble. Please let sickbay know that we'll have him beamed up once we free him." =/\= Once he's done talking, Marbim will help to free the survivor, without bringing down the rubble or making his injuries worse. Speaking calmly to the man, "I'm Lieutenant Rejal of the USS Merlin, we're going to beam you to our ship once we get you free. Can you tell me what hurts, or if you're having issues breathing...we have our Doctor here with us..."

Ki did not understand why they did not simply transport the patient out from under the rubble. However, it was not the time to argue, instead he simply looked perturbed as he scanned the victim with his tricorder. "He has bilateral broken legs, three broken ribs, a possible pnemo-thorax and he is currently paralyzed from the waist down. Of course this all can be handled on the ship." He said with an air of distance.

=/\=Copy that way team.=/\=

He groaned in response “Everything hurts! A roof landed on me. Still it’s better than what happened to some of the others. They were torn limb from limb by those monsters....”

He was starting to feel a bit woozy. Either from the blood loss, or the drugs, or both. "They were massive. Over 4 meters tall and three legs! Never seen anything like it before. They didn't talk either. Some of the others were screaming things like 'I can here them inside my head'. They took a load of people over there." He pointed to the shielded location the team were headed towards. "They never came out again......" His voice trailed off as he lost consciousness.

Marbim glances over at Dr. Ki, and shrugs his shoulders, "Haven't heard that one before," tapping his combadge again he relates, =/\= Merlin, one critical patient to beam directly to sickbay =/\= Marbim will then take some additional scans of the area, "Ok people. The gentleman we just saved spoke of a three-legged monster...if that's true, then there should be some interesting footprints left behind somewhere. He also told us that more people were taken to that shielded area we are headed for, so keep you eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Let's move out."

Marbim will get closer to Dr Ki, and in a low voice ask, "Three legged monster thats over four meters high, that rings any bells with you Doc, I'm drawing a blank..."

"A few years back all medical personnel in Starfleet were given copies of the Doctor's medical logs. The Doctor was the Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Voyager while it was trapped in the Delta Quadrant. During their travels they encountered a species known only by it's Borg designation 8472. These beings were at war with the Borg. They fit the description that my patient gave. If the Doctor's logs are any good source material then we are in for an interesting ride." Ki responded solemnly.

Looking incredulous Marbim quietly asks, “Those we’re the folks trapped in the Delta Quadrant right. I remember learning about them. They devised some of the protocols we use when fighting the Borg right. I don’t remember the race you mentioned though, how would they have gotten here?”

"Yes, that was the ship trapped in the Delta Quadrant. 8472 is from another dimension, one of fluidic space. Theoretically they can go anywhere they want in our dimension. As I said they would be about 4 meters tall, with three legs. They would also be exceptionally violent. We need to be ready for anything if it is 8472. Also if I remember correctly they are telepathic so one should be able to reach out mentally to them." Ki responded, and the more he thought about this situation the more he simply wanted to return to the safety of his Sick Bay.

Marbim stops walking for a moment as the color drains from his face. Looking at Dr. Ki he says, "Telepathy as a weapon, rather than just communication, that's a scary concept, maybe that's who this Puppet Master is, one of these Species 8472 whose had sufficient time to figure out what makes us tick, and how best to manipulate us," shuddering Marbim continues moving towards the shielded area.

Inside the shielded area was a simple hatch which opened revealing a makeshift lab. Several biobeds were positioned around the room with a computer terminal on the far wall with strange alien writing. There was a lot of blood pooled on the floor and hung in the air was the stench of death. Laid against the far wall unconscious was a human female in a blue Starfleet uniform and a lab coat. In the center of the room was a large, black ominous box with 30 lights in a row. As if sensing movement one light went out, follows by the next 10 seconds later meaning all the light would be extinguished in 5 minutes.

Marbim nods at the lab tech, "Doctor Ki you want to check her out please." Looking at the ominous box, Marbim says aloud, "I would say this is a bomb people, so lets gather as much intel and data and get the hell out of here before those lights all turn off." Moving to the computer, Marbim will see if it works, and how fast he can download the data on it to a padd...

Ki gave the lab tech a quick once over and told her that she would be taken to the Merlin. Within minutes her form had dissolved into the transporter effect. The Doctor turned to Marbin. "Ummmm, Lieutenant I do not mean to be the wet blanket, but we should get out of here before that explodes. All of the survivors are on the ship and I can treat them there."

Marbim smiles, “Doctor beam up, take care of those we found here, thank you for joining us here on the ground.” Once the Doctor dematerialised Marbim raised his voice, “Ok people, we’re getting out of here. Beam that computer terminal to Shuttlebay 2, and get a security shield around it, Ensign Rathburn take care of that please. Everyone else finish your scans, I want images and samples of the blood on the floor! Get it done now folks.”

Stepping outside Marbim taps his com badge, =/\= Captain, Doctor Ki is already aboard with our survivors. We’re beaming a computer to Shuttlebay 2 where it needs to be stored behind a heavy security field. Once the rest of us finish some scans we’re beaming up as well, there’s an explosive device in the lab that’s counting down, and as it’s alien tech, we’re just leaving rather than try to stop it and lose more people, Marbim out =/\=

Melody's voice came back over the comm. =/\=Merlin to away team. No heroics now. Prepare to beam back to the ship. =/\=

=/\= No heroics, got it Mam, be back on the Merlin ASAP! =/\=

OFF:

●● Lieutenant Marbim Rejal
Second Officer / Chief of Operations
USS Merlin

●● Lieutenant Michael Ki MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Merlin

●●● Commander Melody Jones
Executive Officer
USS Merlin