Unexpected Visitors

Posted on Tue Aug 3rd, 2021 @ 5:06pm by Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai & Maje Jaha Veeth & Lieutenant Sovaan & Lieutenant JG Eleanor Ellsworth & Lieutenant Chaali

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Bridge, Deck 1
Timeline: Mission Day 4 at 1200

The bridge was quiet. Emni had never noticed just how quiet it was before, but now, perched on the edge of the Captain’s chair she couldn’t stop noticing it. Not that there was a great deal to say. Each crew member went about his or her task with the type of precision that was the hallmark of a Starfleet officer. Comms were monitored. Sensors relayed information that was evaluated and considered against their position and expected spatial experiences. Regular updates on the status of away team members were fed into the right consoles to reach the right officers. In all, it was a well-oiled machine.

And Emni felt entirely out of place.

She had been honored by Björn’s request that she step into the second officer role that had recently been vacated by Lieutenant Timmoz. It struck her as a significant step in her career, although she couldn’t quite place the direction in which that step took her. Still, she could count on one hand--no one finger--the number of times she had actually be in command of a ship. This was definitely that one time.

“Status report,” she requested of the general populace of the bridge. The words came easily enough, but they were tinged with a slight discomfort, as if pulling on a coat that still needed tailoring before it would fit right.

The young Lieutenant Jg. Eleanor Ellsworth sat at the helm, her ocean blue eyes fixed on her console, “Well ma’am all systems check out here, I reckon we are holding a nice orbit of the planet, altitude and momentum standard.” She flashed a warm smile to the second officer as she motioned her shoulder to dislodge her fiery red hair. While Eleanor much rather duties contained to the shuttle bay and she salivated for opportunities to pilot smaller craft, she genuinely enjoyed the odd bridge shift which was thrown her way.

Eleanor returned her gaze to the planet which was the focus of the viewscreen. She was in awe of the lush landscape below. The planet radiated the greenery of life. She could not help but feel a little jealous, sometimes she loathed the transporter, what a dream it would have been to land on shuttle planet side and find a way to penetrate that tall forest canopy. “It is just buzz’n with life... A real beaut..."

Chaali's gregarious and easy nature was a percolation to Emni's right while sat the hook-shaped console starboard of the central Helm. "How's that center seat feel?" She said with a purple-gummed smile. She could relate- she'd sat it the entire way from Antares to Risa and had been glad to give it up. She turned her head down to comply with Emni's question. With a soft, porcelain tinkling like bells, her newest wig sounded. It appeared to be made of painted white porcelain in lovely reds- like someone had hue-shifted Delftware. Each tiny bell was like a long, spiraled seashell on copper thread.

Before the fashionable Bolian could pull up sensors the disembodied voice of Commander Takomi echoed through the bridge. "Takomi to Sojo," the First Officer's tone was even, measured, and perhaps even a bit aloof. "As expected, the interference field is getting stronger the further into the ruins we get. This may be our last chance to check in for some time," the XO denoted. "However, we are, for the time being, perfectly--"

A crash sounded across the speakers before being cut off with a sudden and alarming silence.

Emni sat ramrod straight in her chair, the concern of the bridge crew radiating through her like a struck tuning fork. To Chaali she said, "Reopen that line."

Chaali's fingers were a flurry when the crash did not sound natural, "I'm boosting signal through the navigation deflector's broad-band emitters..." She said with calm. "It's bad but you're... no, dammit. The signals dropping out. Wherever he's gone, the interference is worse. But I can still detect the Away Team on sensors."

Emni nodded, "Can we reach anyone?"

Chaali tentatively shook her head, stiffly not wanting to commit to the answer while she cycled EM bands and started doubling them up in quantum weave algorithms. "Not yet..." She reported.

The Romulan doctor swore under her breath. "Keep monitoring. If a communication channel opens up I want to be on with the team right away. Any fluctuations in those lifesigns?"

With a flinging motion, Chaali pinched the data on her console and pushed it in front of them. The starry night of the main view screen, and the olive green world on the port horizon, broke into a series of bezeled data slots. Each had a face personnel profile picture followed by their vitals. The one that had become bathed in yellows and oranges was Commander Takomi. "He's hurt... I can't tell how badly from here..." Chaali said.

A few long moments passed, the tension on the bridge thick with the waiting.

A beep here. A crackle there. Chaali was communicating with the tech down in the Transporter Room. When it seemed they'd found a channel to reach the Captain, Chaali's eyes widened.

"-Dak to Tran--rter R--," Chaali shunted auxiliary resources to the ventral sensor and communications dome and tied in the signal boosters. "Tr--porter Room, can you read m- ---- here?"

"Transporters have a comm signal on the emergency band. But it's really bad. The transceiver packets are way below sixty percent," Chaali said.

"Transporter Room, Captain Kodak..." There was a long pause, "Transporter Room to Captain Kodak. We read you."

"Tran--ort- Room, we --- an emergency beam out for ---mander Takomi. He's grav--- injured. B--- him directly to Sic--ay."

The air was pregnant with concern. Seconds ticked by in a frozen stiffness. Losing flag officers on Away Teams was a rarity- and Starfleet Command would inevitably want answers.

Then Chaali's panel beeped, relaying the Sojourner's end of the communication, "We have him, Captain," the Transporter Room stated.

Chaali's checked her resource panels, eyes on the transporter buffer cycle-down. Her gaze shifted to a blue light with a flicker of a Caduceus. "Confirmed. The Emergency Response Teams just acknowledged receipt," Chaali reported, finally looking up at t'Nai. "He's in bad shape."

The conflict in responsibilities was evident on Emni's face as Chaali's report sunk in. For a long moment, she was still, erecting mental barriers and trying to clear space to think. With Dr. Ryan Walsh down on the surface Sickbay was manned only by two nurses. Both were extremely capable, but neither were doctors. The answer was clear, but it was far from the choice she wanted to make. Still, no matter what she wanted, her place right now was on the bridge. In this chair. With this team.

Nodding acknowledgment to Chaali she tapped the delta on her chest. "t'Nai to Sickbay."

"Lal here." The calm voice of the Trill nurse came across the comm, sounding clearly throughout the Bridge. "We have Commander Takomi, sir. He's..." the nurse's voice paused as she spoke, "We're placing him into a medically induced coma, but he's going to need surgery. How do you want us to proceed?"

Emni nodded to herself. "Understood Lieutenant." She took a deep breath before continuing. "There's a holographic disc on the main desk. That's our Longterm Medical Hologram. Please initialize his program. He's well equipped to proceed from there."

She paused again, considering. "And Miriam... Let him know I'll speak with him soon."

"Yes ma'am," came the affirmative reply.

"t'Nai out." The Romulan tapped her delta again closing the channel before taking in the few officers around her.

"Let's get a sensor sweep of the Away Team's position and a standard sweep around us for good measure. Everyone else on standby until we know more about what's going on down there."

Cerulean fingers ran a standard sensor sweep. For a moment- a brief moment, the sensors flickered and there seemed to be almost double the number of life signs on the surface. But then he reasserted "Sensors are..." Chaali smiled through the gallows, like a bit of blue sunshine. The Bolian word is Toturaki," she slyly added, "Its not a nice word. Moody primitive." The Bolian sighed. her wig clinked with a head turn. "Nothing but a gourdy green pl-" but she halted when, at the edge of medium-range, there was quite suddenly an anomaly. "Hold on..." her bald eyebrows knitted.

The young Eleanor watched as the eventful moment unfolded. Without a direct order there wasn’t much for her to do. She was a navigator and a pilot through and through. If asked to navigate safely through an ion storm or name some insignificant star half way across the quadrant she was your girl, otherwise in moments such as these she fundamentally felt helpless.

Eleanor looked to the bridge's commanding officer, Lieutenant Emni t'Nai. She couldn’t help but wonder what thoughts and emotions were running through her head. Not only was she the ship's second officer; but, she was also the ship’s Chief Medical Officer as well. From Eleanor’s point of view, with the Executive Officer injured in sickbay, the Romulan seemed to be pulled in two directions.

Would she be better served sitting in the command chair or down in sickbay tending to her senior officer?

This was surely not a position Eleanor ever wished to find herself in. While she was envious of anyone who chose leadership roles in Starfleet, she would never want such a role, she did not envy all those tough decisions. She wondered if the Second Officer had, in this moment, second guessed her decision. She had once read in some text at Starfleet Academy which lingered in her mind now... ‘It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose.’ Eleanor knew that the mistakes made from the command chair could be the most costly. The redhead’s thoughts were quickly dismissed as the Bolian interrupted. “Yeah… I am reading it too… some sort of distortion…?” Eleanor couldn’t help sense company was on the way.

"I see it. Trying to get a reading," Sovaan announced, his fingers dancing hurriedly across the Tactical console. "It looks like...Klingons. Bird of Prey decloaking off starboard. Should I raise shields?" He hovered over the controls, ready to jump into action on Emni's word.

The Romulan woman paused, her mind running in twenty different directions as she played out possible scenarios. "Not yet, Mr. Sovaan," she finally replied. "Let's not give them any excuse to say we are provoking them. Lieutenant Chaali," she added, "open a channel to the Klingon ship."

"Channel open," the Bolian said as a rounded bong echoed. "I'd recommend Yellow Alert, Ma'am. Not an aggressive posture. But alert."

Emni nodded. "Take us to Yellow Alert Lieutenant."

With a warning whine, the bezels of the Bridge's consoles went aglow in amber. The lights dimmed softly and warmed. "All decks this is the Bridge, Yellow Alert. Go to Yellow Alert." She said softly. She touched off the intercom key, nodding once to Sovaan to watch out.

"Klingon vessel, this is the Federation starship USS Sojourner. How can we help you?" she said, in her best friendly doctor voice.

In a few moments the visual of a seemingly elder Klingon appeared on the viewscreen, his long messy hair as white as freshly fallen snow. His face was weathered and littered with an overabundance of scars. He looked to his right, his top lip curled in a snarl, “bIjatlh 'e' yImev, shut your bloody mouth Temack. Yeah, keep it up, you’ll have worse than a broken finger. Next time I’ll cut that dirty digit clean off and feed it to my fat targ! Yeah keep it up!” A growl escaped the Klingon’s lips as he blinked and noticed the bright Starfleet face on his viewscreen. He pointed toward it, his fingernail long and bowed, “Oh is that thing on? Hello? State your intentions Starfleet, what are you doing in orbit of this planet? Sneaking into our space like a rat, I should kill you where you sit!” He leaned into the viewscreen, his head took up the entire view, his eyes squinted as if he had trouble seeing, “Spit it out! Why orbit Ch'othil?”

Sovaan leaned on the railing in front of him and raised an eyebrow. "Does this dha'rudh expect us to take him seriously?" he muttered, just loudly enough for Emni to hear him use the Romulan swear word.

Emni's focus narrowed as the Klingon on the screen spoke, old instincts from childhood kicking in. Romulans did not take kindly to being referred to as rats.

"This is Emni i-Rizz t'Nai of the USS Sojourner," she began, face blank and tone the dangerous neutral that had graced the screens of Starfleet vessels for generations of her people before this. A tiny tangent ran in her brain as she considered the reversal of positions--she now on a Federation vessel rather than a Romulan one. The strangeness of it niggled at the back of her mind. She pushed it aside.

"I'm afraid you didn't give me your name," she stated coldly.

"My name?" The Klingon bellowed as he eyed around his bridge. "Name?" he asked again. "Is that what she said? That soft tongue is too tame for me. Speak up!" He snarled, "You got a name long enough for the two of us. My name is not important!" He eyed the Federation woman as the tip of a mek'leth appeared south of the viewscreen and he used it to scratch at his whisker.

"Kel'Tut, his name is Kel'Tut!" A voice called from the background.

The voice caused the elderly Klingon to give side-eye to the voice, he scoffed, "Names are not important. I asked you a question Starfleet! Why are you circling Ch'othil?" He lifted his blade higher and pointed it toward the viewscreen, "Answer my question directly, or your voice shall be drowned by the rain of my torpedoes!" Nothing about his tone left room for negotiation, he asked a question and he wanted an answer. Ordinarily, he would simply fire and ask questions later; but, Ch'othil, even as a young boy sparked a curiosity in him.

Ch'othil was once, generations ago, home to a group of Chameloids. He had long suspected that the ruins contained on the planet would hold some key to finding the yellow-eyed bastards. Until now, Kel'Tut and any Klingon scientist he had brought to the planet had been unsuccessful with activating any of the technology located in the ruins. The inners of the ruins and the Chameloids' location remained a mystery. In the old Klingon's eyes, he saw the presence of Starfleet as an opportunity. They might have some answers and Kel'Tut salivated to find any ancient Klingon relics. Relics from the age of the Hur'q attack, an invasion and plunder of Qo'noS in the 14th century.

Neutral doctor smile still plastered on her face, clearly to the annoyance of Kel'Tut, Emni waved a hand down below the view screen's view signaling Chaali to mute her briefly. With a bob of Chaali's head, shells tinkling together lightly, Emni spoke.

"What's the status of their weapons?" She inquired, hoping that Kel'Tut would chalk her silence up to his bad hearing.

"Armed," Chaali stated with her own subtlety, glancing in the Romulan's direction. "But no target lock."

Emni nodded lightly and then stared at the screen as if she was waiting for Kel'Tut to reply. She waved again to indicate the removal of the muting.

Kel'Tut snorted, his patience with this vessel grew rather thin. He rose from his seat as it to lean in and focus his hearing upon her voice.

"I said," Emni replied, brows furrowed as if the Klingon were irritating her as opposed to the other way around, "we are a research vessel charged with recording architectural history for the Federation Architectural Society."

"This is Klingon space," the elder Klingon reminded her. "What history of this planet have you cataloged? Tell me what you know of this world. Your transparency will be your armour against the wrath of my ship. Speak with a honest tongue Starfleet!" He leaned in more his tongue gently sucked against his teeth.

Emni raised both of her eyebrows, making a conciliatory gesture with her hands as she did. "We have only barely arrived, sir. I can hardly provide evidence of our cataloging having barely had opportunity to complete the work!"

The Klingon scoffed as he narrowed his eyes, "A politician's answer. I am old, don't waste the little time I have left with no answers. Try again! What species is your captain, and where are they? What brings you to Ch'othil?" The white-haired Klingon gave a nod, and within seconds the Klingon's weapons were fixed on the Sojourner. "Answer my questions, I am too old for games!" The Klingon's rough tone strengthened.

Chaali muted the Klingon with a neutral look and turned to look at the Doctor, "You're dealing with a Klingon, Doctor. He's trying to establish his dominance of you. Be blunt, be louder, stop being evasive. Think like a Klingon. Return the weapons lock and raise our shields. Show him strength." Chaali moved to unmute the channel.

"I will not answer questions while your weapons are locked on our vessel. I am afraid you will have to live with the disappointment." Emni replied her voice changing from the neutral tone of a doctor to the slightly frightening steel of a Romulan who has had enough.

"Close the channel," Emni said, turning to Chaali first and then to Sovaan. "Raise shields."

She turned back to the viewscreen where Kel'Tut's face had been replaced by an image of his ship. "Lock onto their engines and prepare to fire torpedos," she continued. "If we have to fire I want to disable them, not destroy them."

The lights lowered still: a harsh scarlet glared across the command center from every console, every display bezel, and every emitter as the new call for red alert replaced condition yellow.

"Disappointment? You invaded our space! You come into Klingon Space under the vale of architecture research; yet you are as dodgy as a Tal Shiar coward! Your entry and your avoidance of my questions will be viewed as an act of war! Espionage! The Sojourner will be remembered as..." The Klingon elder was interrupted.

"She cut you off..." came a voice across the bridge.

Kel'Tut growled, "Fire!!!" Two warning shots extended across the bow of the Sojourner as he settled into his command chair, his fists clenched.

The Sojourner's deck plates shimmied as the Klingon weaponry went past its hull. Chaali pursed her lips, tilting her head with a touch of irreverence. "Quite a little bully isn't he..." Chaali smiled.

Lieutenant JG Ellsworth, still at the ship’s helm could not hide the smile of her face, the old Klingon amused her. By all indication he was a Colonel of the Klingon Defense Force, and evident by the maze of scars across his face he was not shy to a battle or two over the years. He was clearly a curmudgeon and at this point in his life was just doddering along, she found that endearing. She had not recalled seeing a Klingon look so old, almost feeble; yet somehow, he was still in charge of an impressive ship, if he did not have some undisclosed edge, no doubt some other Klingon warrior would have challenged him. To have survived this long, the old Klingon was either extremely lucky or had a cunning that might often be underestimated. Either way her opinion of the Colonel quickly changed when he fired across their ship. With as much thought as she placed in breath, her fingers with hast moved against the console and placed the ship in a standard invasive pattern until the commanding officer ordered a refine. Chaali's call caught her attention, she saw it too.

Too many things were happening at once. Emni gripped the edge of the Captain's chair, her knuckles white as the twin charges from the Klingon ship sailed past the Sojourner at close range. In what felt like a nearly simultaneous action, the voice of Captain Kodak echoed through the bridge across her comm badge.

"Kodak to Sojo. We've shut down the interference field but Lieutenant Giorgiou is severely injured. Beam him to Sickbay. I'm hoping we won't be far behind."

"Shit," Emni muttered under her breath before composing herself and tapping her badge to reply. "Captain, we've run into a few locals up here and are in a bit of a stand-off. Shields are up right now, sir. You'll need to sit tight. We'll beam him out as quickly as possible."

"Understood, Doctor." Emni could hear the Chameloid's audible sigh sending her insides twisting with guilt and a touch of anxiety. "Do what you can but keep a lock on us. There may only be seconds' warning before we need to exit in a hurry. Kodak out."

She turned to Chaali, "We need a way to bring our people up. What are my options?"

"Don't let him r-" Her eyes widened while her fingers moved to the sudden squawk of sensors. "Whoa, hold on to something! Three unidentified vessels are incoming, bearings 004 mark 345, 012 mark 004 and 010 mark 350. They're com-"

The Sojourner bucked and bucked hard now- not once but thrice. On the third shot, there was a dread sound- the gradual whine of systems dropping out. Consoles across the Bridge flickered, snapped to emergency lighting and then failed again. It was like the consoles were doing a "wave" across the Bridge. They were left in relative darkness, save for the emergency lights that glowed white near the turbolifts.

"My console is out... what was that?" Ellsworth called, her hands lifted, and hovered over the helm. She wasn't sure what to do.

On the main screen, the Klingon vessel had suffered a similar fate as two strange craft pummeled it with green energy. It looked helpless adrift. The two ships that hovered swept over the Klingon ship- their hulls were eerily dark, almost like eel skin. One turned and faced the Sojourner directly while the other hovered over the Bird of Prey.

"Augh, it looks like whoever they are... they got the Klingon's too... Who are they?" She peered more closely at the ships on the viewscreen, she didn't recognize them. As she looked upon the Klingon's she thought, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend...'

The emergency lights case an eerie glow across the faces of the crew and the unusual silence of the ship felt almost oppressive in the aftermath of the three discharges that had struck them. Emni surveyed the crew quickly, unable to fully turn off her medical instincts, she found herself checking for obvious wounds.

"Everyone alright?" she asked, before rising from the command chair, taking in nods as she did so. "Ok. Status report. Who is that and what the hell did they just hit us with?"

=/\= A Mission Post By =/\=

Lieutenant Emni t'Nai
Chief Medical Officer / 2XO

Lieutenant Sovaan
Chief Security Officer

Lieutenant JG Chaali
Chief Operations Officer

Ensign Eleanor Ellsworth (played by Bahrat)
Relief Flight Controller

Guest appearance by...

Colonel Kel'Tut (Played by Bahrat)
The Klingon Empire