Author's notes: These are compiled posts by multiple players for the
Earth Spacedock RP on the
Star Trek Online forums. My character was Elric (w Zeta). This continues from the last
ESD entry. Written in July-August 2017.
Earth Spacedock, Pages 125-129
U.S.S. Marrakesh
"Captain's Log. The Marrakesh picked up a distress signal two hours ago and, as per Starfleet regulation, responded to it. What we found was an alien escape pod of unknown origin. Its insides, near-undetectable except for hints of a life-form. Damaged beyond repair, the pod is unable to communicate beyond its distress beacon and neither can it open or be penetrated by transporter. We've taken the risk of tractor-beaming it into our shuttle bay for further study. Our analysis has yet to determine what species it's from, but damage to its exterior lines up with Na'khul weaponry. Perhaps they were nearby and we didn't even notice? In the meantime, the Marrakesh is en-route back to the armada, where we await dangers to be wrought beyond our wildest imaginations."
---
Na'Khul Base - Corridors
The team was infiltrating the Na'Khul base, with Sek taking the lead. Shivak and Sangok followed. As Lt. Jade followed as well, she would sense a large, black, liquid cloud-like being following her. It seemed overwhelmingly evil. None of the others could see nor detect it. Lt. Jade suddenly turned around, again taking a defensive posture. It was clear now she was on edge.
She looked like she was watching something. "What are you?"
"Keep walking," said
the being, following the lieutenant.
"I am a being beyond your comprehension."
"And why should I trust you?" Jade replied. "Why should I take the chance of leading you to others? I don't even know who or what you are."
"I already know exactly when and where they are," replied the being.
"And I am your universe's end if you do not do exactly as I instruct. Follow them, now."
Jade grit her teeth, obviously not liking this. After a moment she caught up with everyone else, looking a bit distracted.
"Good, good," said the being, only visible and audible to her.
"I will have you aware, I do not intend to do harm to you or your allies if it does not need to be, although I will protect my own existence if I am threatened. One of their people plan to destroy me for their own gains. He must be stopped if all your universes are to survive."
"If you wanted help you could have just asked," Jade muttered to avoid anyone overhearing her.
"You must find the agent of time they call Commander Scott Aughtry. He is an outsider and will betray this mission and cause a temporal explosion that would redirect the river of time where it does not belong."
"I'll need evidence, and it would be better not to be doing this alone. I need proof. If I stop him without warning, I come off as the aggressor in an unprovoked attack. And what do I call you? Or should I just make up a name for you?"
"I do not need a name," replied the being.
"The evidence you will learn yourself in your future. You do not need me to show you."
"Whatever you say... Bob," Jade replied.
The being let out a dull, red pulse of light.
"Simpler to identify me as a being," replied the being.
"I exist. That is enough."
The group went around another corner and finally arrived back at the flyer. They all got inside (
being included), and then took off and headed out under stealth. It was quiet. A single 28th century Breen warship waited nearby. Sek piloted the
Nova Scotia out and Sangok made preparations for opening a temporal rift back to the armada.
---
U.S.S. Marrakesh - Cargo Bay
Elric sighed. The
Marrakesh was back with the armada and the escape pod was being penetrated by Jessie's phaser drill. When the alien pod opened, Elric raised his own weapon at the spilling of a short, unrecognizable alien man.
"Welcome to the
Marrakesh. I'm Captain Elric," he introduced.
The creature was humanoid, had a bulky upper torso, scrawny arms, but bulky forearms. His skin was dark yellow-ish/green and his nose was large and beak-like. "Name is Klokian."
"We noticed the Na'khul damage to your pod. I assume they destroyed your ship? What species are you?"
Gaining focus, the creature got to his feet. His posture was that of a crouching stance. He dressed as if he was poor. "Species, Klokian, from 39th century. Timeship, gone. Take new ship, yours."
"Your name is the same name as your species? And, no one's taking anything."
Klokian turned to him, menacingly. "That... not is a question," he said just before leaping at Elric, to which the Captain responded with by firing into Klokian. The creature lost momentary strength, as Elric dodged the leap. Klokian landed behind Elric and then ran off out the doors into the corridor.
"Great," Elric sighed.
---
U.S.S. Sally - Conference room
Emperor Nat, Admiral Anna Walker, and Captain Sasha Walker had all already arrived. The two Commodore Nats entered after Krystal, trailed by Rear Admiral Ransom. Prala and Captain Jim Dennison soon made their way in, soon joined again by 11 of 14. Regent Nat eventually showed up, taking a relaxed stride into the room, nodding to Anna who didn't seem very happy.
Admiral Nat sat, and waited, looking over all the arrivals. "No Elric?"
Krystal just took a seat as her Mirror Counterpart came in. The seats were gone already. Nat sighed. A few minutes passed. No Elric.
"Of course not," said Nat. "Anyway, to business. The scouts are back, and with somewhat limited information, but worthwhile nonetheless. We need to form a plan. For that—"
"Please tell me you got us a bigger room," remarked Emperor Nat. "I can barely breathe in here."
"—we've already prepared one, I was literally just suggesting we move our meeting to there," continued the Admiral. Sarah didn't look impressed whatsoever.
Admiral Nat motioned one of the security officers in the room over. "If and when Elric shows up, take him down to join us."
The security officer nodded and the Admiral motioned everyone else to follow.
---
U.S.S. Marrakesh - Bridge
After a lengthy search and continuing intensive scans throughout the ship, Elric entered the Bridge of the
Marrakesh. There were no signs of Klokian anywhere, despite seeing the creature run out the Cargo Bay. With triple security lockouts in place, recurring Security teams, sensor sweeps and round-the-clock patrols, Elric came to discover a meeting request for an immediate counsel. Seeing as his success was somewhat limited with the rescued alien, Elric put his PADD down left to make his way over to the
Sally.
---
U.S.S. Sally - War Room
Eventually, Elric was beamed to the
Sally without incident. Sensor sweeps made it certain that nothing else decided to tag along with him in the transporter. Everyone eventually arrived at a room guarded by two MACOs. The War Room, apparently. Sarah's eyes widened at the sight.
The group entered, passed another pair of security officers guarding the inside of the door, and into the room itself. It had a large, round holographic projector in the middle, with a single station operated by some science officer, who was seated. Further back and around was a lineup of two dozen chairs, in a semicircle. Behind those were another row of more numerous, but smaller chairs.
Admiral Nat motioned people to sit down. He went for a right chair, soon joined by Sarah, Jim, Malin, Prala, both Commodore Nats, Rear Admiral Ransom, Sek, Sangok, and Shivak, who'd also saved a seat for lieutenant Jade. Emperor Nat, of course, went left, soon joined by Anna and Sasha. Regent Nat just made his way down the middle, still eyeing Mirror Krystal. 11 then took a seat just behind Admiral Nat.
Elric entered, taking notice of the large room. It was bigger than he expected. Then, taking notice of the Admrial. "Sorry I'm late. There was a Na'khul attack one sector over and now the survivor's gone missing on my ship." He took a seat.
"Well, now that we're back to business," stated Sek, "we can let you know what we found. We showed up in the area a little while after our fleet had already left. There was a debris field, including a heavily damaged and detached saucer section of our own U.S.S.
Sally. 28th century Breen vessels patrolling the area, likely looking for whomever had been fighting beforehand. The Na'kuhl base was cloaked," he went on, motioning the science officer to activate the holoprojector, displaying the base and surrounding area. Even the walls were screens, showing the backdrop of the surrounding space, as Sek continued, "The Breen did discover the station, possibly before or after we arrived. We found one lost person from Lieutenant Jade's universe, and managed to get some detail suggesting the presence of a Doomsday Machine. After that, the Na'kuhl consoles exploded before we could use them. Then we left."
By now, another officer was handing out PADDs to the various admirals, captains, emperors, etc., with the more detailed mission reports. Sek went on to say, "Lieutenant Jade may have come across some kind of anomaly spawning... who knows how many different species. She may have imagined it, considering that none of us could detect any sign of the anomaly, although we did later see mysteriously disintegrating Breen, which may have been related."
"What's the source of the anomaly?" Elric wondered. "Also, I detected a Na'khul attack nearby. I wonder if that means they know about us."
"Well, duh," replied Sasha. "We got an entire armada of temporal warships hanging out not too far from where they ambushed some of you guys. Of course they know. They're just smart enough to not attack us here and now."
Lt. Jade immediately got up and walked away from 11. She almost looked like she was fighting herself on something. 11 looked up at Lt. Jade. "You seem distracted, Lieutenant."
Lt. Jade clenched her fist and closed her eyes. "It's nothing," she insisted.
"That can't be true," stated Kelvin Commodore Nat. "You can talk to us. Really."
"Go ahead, tell them," said the being.
"Tell them how you just can't stand the thought of them finding out what's on your tricorder, and how you intended to damage the data in it beyond repair before they can retrieve it. Tell them, they will understand, and they can keep you on the correct path."
Lt. Jade punched the wall, actually denting it, but didn't turn to face the table. "You are constantly telling me to lie to the very people who saved my life and for what?" she asked seemingly no one. "Self-preservation? I've played along until now. But I will NOT let you manipulate me like that. I am NOT your puppet! You want my help? Then ASK for it! Ask them too! They're involved just as much as I am!" She then turned and pointed at some unseen figure. "What you are doing makes me feel like a frakkin' Drone again! I am NOT! So you know what? Reveal yourself to them! Provide your 'evidence' against this person and let them investigate! I will not act out against someone without proof and make myself look like the enemy if you're wrong!"
The being simply loomed, slowly moving around in a circle behind the lieutenant.
"Am I wrong? You clearly had a different intended path, and actively resisted it. If it is the truth, tell them so."
Scott scanned the area, then slowly turned to Admiral Nat. "I'm not picking up anything anomalous whatsoever..."
"Just like before," said Sek. "She did seem preoccupied during our scouting mission. Maybe there's a connection?"
"Who were you talking to?" asked Emperor Nat, quite sternly.
Lt. Jade looked at the entity again. "The thing that followed me home from the Na'kuhl station," she replied. "Seems to have no name and has its own agenda in regards to our mission. Apparently, according to it... and for the record, it didn't like me calling it Bob... one particular officer is a threat that must be taken care of. But it has refused to elaborate or even provide evidence. Just insists that action be taken and the evidence will be provided later."
"You will find the evidence yourself, as it is not the kind of evidence that can be provided directly," said the being, looming around and settling in line of sight of Admiral Nat.
"That was already of your knowledge. It requires time."
Admiral Nat deadpanned the lieutenant. "So it just... followed you home?" he asked. "It has no name, its own intentions, doesn't like being called Bob, says some officer is a threat, and won't tell you why but continues telling you to do things?"
"Do you think it can see the future?" asked the Emperor, almost as though he had already predicted her answer.
"He won't say."
"I am a being beyond your understanding," said the being.
"My thoughts extend further than 4 dimensions."
The Admiral asked, "Can you actually prove this being you keep talking to actually exists, or do I have to throw you in the brig just to be safe?"
The being began moving erratically and appeared as though it were about to attack the lieutenant. Lt. Jade backed off defensively from the Entity.
"The entity wanted me to destroy my own tricorder to prevent it from being analyzed. That's why I got away from it before I would act on the urge."
The Admiral pondered, "If this is true, this... being... probably suspected that the tricorder had collected sensor data of it's presence and wanted that data destroyed."
"The only way to be certain is to check the tricorder itself," said Shivak.
They suddenly heard an explosion from somewhere down the hall outside.
---
Corridors
A larger portion of the corridor was on fire, although the automated fire suppression systems had activated. 11 of 14 was on the ground, leaning against a wall, and barely even conscious. The tricorder was nowhere to be found.
"What happened?" asked Admiral Nat, who came out to see what happened.
"Tricorder... exploded..." replied 11, trying and failing to get up. "Some kind of... self destruct system. Turned itself on and... boom."
Scott scanned the area. "These readings... that tricorder didn't just randomly decide to overload. It was a Na'kuhl explosive."
Admiral Nat looked to Scott. "Are you kidding? How they did they pull that off?"
The being hovered around in center, over Scott, and seemingly more visible than before. It appeared to be charging some kind of deadly energy beam, evidently watching Lt. Jade very closely. Everyone else seemed surprised; although they may still have only been looking to Scott.
Elric pulled out his phaser and aimed it at the being. "I see him?"
Lt. Jade ran towards Scott with Borg-enhanced speed to try and knock him down out of the line of fire. Krystal dove for cover, taking a chair with her to act as a shield.
They couldn't see the being, obviously. Why Elric could now see it, even for only a moment, was definitely a mystery, and everyone else seemed to just roll with what the lieutenant, and Elric, were now doing. Admiral Nat and 11 scrambled to get Scott down and out of Elric's line of fire... the lieutenant, still plowing ahead, and past where Scott just was, ending up crashing into the admiral instead. He lurched backward, and with a great snap, hit the wall head first, then fell to the ground unconscious. Prala rushed over to scan him with her tricorder. Her face said it all; it wasn't any good news.
Sarah turned to the Admiral, and upon seeing Prala's face of serious alarm, turned back to Lt. Jade, evidently not impressed. Not even saying a word, she motioned two MACOs to come over and take the lieutenant to the brig. Another MACO soon found Lt. Jade's friend they'd found in the Na'kuhl base, and took him down as well.
11 was now over by the Admiral, concerned. Jim, Scott, and Sek were soon there as well, with Sek motioning the others to keep some distance so Prala could continue trying to stabilize the Admiral's condition. Ransom turned to Elric. "Did you see it?"
"Apparently it was more visible than before," Elric said putting his phaser away. "At least that's what I thought. Maybe I just thought I saw something with all the suggestive talk. Or did I really see it? Maybe it revealed itself to me? I just don't know."
"Can someone explain to me what just happened?" Krystal asked.
"Elric thought he saw the entity for a second or so," replied Prala as 11 motioned her back to Admiral Nat.
11 got up and turned to Krystal. "We assumed for long enough this being's existence and interference was possible, but Elric trying to shoot the thing makes it seem more likely."
After a couple of moments, Sarah, Prala and the Admiral dematerialized, evidently beaming to sickbay.
11 turned to the various officers. "I'd suggest you all make your way back to that meeting room back there," she said, motioning to the various non-prime universe captains and others. "I and our universe's captains need to have a brief discussion of our own."
"That doesn't sound good..." Krystal sighed after the others were gone.
"It isn't," replied 11. "In case you haven't noticed, the admiral is unconscious and will probably be useless for days. I'm... guessing... that Sarah just handed command of our little task force to me."
"What's the plan?" asked Jim.
"The same," replied 11. "And hope nobody else screws things up any worse."
"The image of that thing has faded on me," Elric said, struggling with his thoughts. "On the other side, at least we're all still amassed here as one giant armada."
"For now," said 11, "I wouldn't be surprised by half the things probably going through the heads of those Terrans..."
"How imminent do you think the Na'khul threat is?" Elric pondered.
"They'd probably be attacking right now if it weren't for the Terran Temporal Battlefleets here," said 11. Jim nodded in agreement.
"We still have to deal with this entity Lt. Jade mentioned," Krystal pointed out. "And I don't know about you guys, but before the mission, I was just fine around her. But during that meeting... I felt threatened. Something changed."
"Assuming this entity even exists," 11 shot back. "We still have no proof besides her acting crazy and the fact that Elric might have caught a glimpse of it."
"Why Scott?" asked Jim, somewhat abruptly. "Assuming the Lieutenant's not working with the Na'kuhl. Is Scott actually planning on destroying this entity for his own purposes? Is he a threat to this hypothetical being that would need to be swept aside by distrust?"
"I've never heard nor seen it," said Scott, who was there the entire time, Sek and Shivak alongside him. "I definitely couldn't have planned its destruction if I don't even know what it is."
"Is it possible Scott's a Na'khul agent of some kind?" Elric said, playing devil's advocate.
Scott deadpanned Elric. "I've been serving with you guys for years, and have fought the Na'kuhl time and time again. Do you seriously think I'd suddenly start working for them now, especially after they tried to kill me?"
"Keep in mind, her tricorder apparently got knocked away by one of those apparent attackers," said Sek, "yet, the tricorder is back, and undamaged. Non-corporeal beings certainly aren't in the habit of carrying around tricorder repair equipment..."
"You think they replaced it with a new tricorder, with falsified data and the explosive charge?" asked Jim, "who could do that? Is this non-corporeal being more powerful than we thought, or is somebody else here?"
11 seemed to have realized something, "Jim, did anyone ever tell you the real reason Scott had to have the original U.S.S.
Sally shot down?"
Jim shook his head. Scott spoke up, "It was infested by a few very hard to locate Na'kuhl agents."
"This is the same ship, from the alternate universe," pointed out 11. "Which had their versions of many of the same crew..."
"You think those versions of the same agents are on this ship?" suggested Jim. "By now, they'd have already had access to a number of our ships."
"They probably added that new tricorder to the mix as well," said Commodore Nat. "However, this still leaves one anomaly, this... being... that Lt. Jade claims has been manipulating her actions."
"What if Lieutenant Jade is one of the Na'kuhl agents?" said Sek, now playing devil's advocate himself. "Either from the beginning, or an agent that replaced her later."
"Of course, Scott could have been replaced as well," remarked Jim, pulling out a tricorder and scanning Scott. "Fortunately, he isn't, unless Na'kuhl disguises have improved beyond our greatest fears."
"That... guy..." said 11 of 14. "That guy from Lieutenant Jade's universe! He didn't even know what he was doing there. He's the Na'kuhl agent, who took the disguise, worked his way among us, and snuck in that tricorder."
"Better have the guys in the brig check him out," said Jim.
Krystal pinched the bridge of her nose. "Maybe we should try to replicate what Lt. Jade did," she spoke up. "Use a TED linked with a tricorder and cycle through wavelengths."
"Not a bad idea," said Scott. "Except we'd probably need to be near where the entity supposedly is. To the brig then?"
"Lieutenant Commander Gibbs to Captain Elric," came an over-the-air voice.
"We've detected the Klokian creature and he's on the Sally. We're beaming you a tricorder specifically configured to detect his negative bio-molecular patterns."
Elric tapped his commbadge. "His what?"
"We were basically trying everything until we realized his organic matter isn't anything like what we've seen," Gibbs said.
"A sample of his bio-electric hand and footprints on the ceiling told us he's some kind of anti-matter-type entity. Though, he seems perfectly fine not being annihilated for some reason."
The Captain pondered. "Fascinating. Anyway, all this has nothing to do with what's going on here. It's almost unnecessary."
"Well, you need your own C-plot storyline, whatever that means. Gibbs out."
Picking up the beamed-in tricorder, he glanced at everyone's deadpan-sigh-based reactions. "He just likes to make up narrative-rooted concepts in his spare time. Anyway, I'll take care of this while you're checking out the Brig."
"How the hell did that thing get on this ship!?" shouted 11. "We've been at yellow alert with our shields up this whole time!"
Jim deadpanned 11. "Sarah beamed out of a fully shielded ESD once. I doubt shields really block transporters anymore whenever this... storyline... demands they don't."
Commodore Nat got a shiver down his spine. "I feel like we're not supposed to know that."
"Anyway," said 11, motioning over another MACO. "Have your officers send over the specifications so we can modify the internal sensors, and I'll send out... well, everyone." 11 turned to a MACO. "Instruct squads of MACOs to cover anything and everything of any importance. Everything, and send out every Omega Operative to track down that... thing!" The MACO began sending out orders. In a matter of seconds, a dozen fully suited and armed Omega Operatives were in the corridor. "Take these guys with you," said 11, as another dozen Omega Operatives arrived, and 11 turned to Jim. "Lead another team and start looking. I'll take the others back to the meeting and come up with a plan."
Jim was passed a spare Omega Antiproton Autocarbine Rifle, and turned to Elric. "Let's get him."