Applying A Little Pressure

Posted on Tue Apr 19th, 2022 @ 3:28pm by Captain Ivan Petrov & Sergeant David Novak & Lieutenant Commander Troy Marshall & Lieutenant Johnathan Anderson III & Lieutenant JG Melissa Jones & Lieutenant JG Karen Lamont

Mission: S1 Episode 2: Caretaker, Part II
Location: Various Locations
Timeline: Mission Day 6 at 2230
2752 words - 5.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Deck 4 - Transporter Room 1
After leaving the Bridge, the Captain and Karen had worked together to gather the necessary tools for their away mission. They had been shadowed by Corporal Novak, ever the Captain's silent partner. Filtration masks, devices that attached behind one ear and projected an air-tight field around one's head, transporter inhibiters which connected directly to the belt, and compression phaser rifles. Karen had gotten a full medkit. Now all that was left before Ivan briefed them was for the others to arrive.

Johnathan entered the transporter room. He was determined to regain the Captain's favor. He had no idea that there was a connection between Ivan and Kassandra. He just wanted to help save the woman that he loved. "I'm ready, Sir. You have my word that I will keep my anger in check."

The door opened and Melissa walked inside with the usual equipment. She carried a repeating phaser rifle like it was nothing. She was aware of Johnathan's emotions. She hoped they did not compromise this retrieval mission. With her repeater, she carried a case of Transporter Enhancers. They might come in handy.

"We were already prepared, ma'am." Corporal Novak said, motioning to the supplies set aside on a table for them. The Chief Engineer made him uneasy. He had heard of what she was capable of, and he didn't like her around the Captain for even a second. He frowned, wondering why such a dangerous creation seemed so highly trusted.

"Yes...... Corporal?" Melissa stared at the Marine. She had gotten that look before... She was dangerous.. And it made others uneasy when they learned what she could do. She narrowed her eyes at the Marine.

"That means you don't need to bring your own phaser, ma'am." he responded, still standing rather still. Despite any uneasiness he felt with her around, he was a marine through and through and he would present a tough face to the most dangerous friend or foe. "I can take care of yours for you, if you'd like."

"I am not subject to your approval... 'Corporal.'" She emphasized the rank. "I am subject to his." She gestured at Ivan.

Ivan offered a smile at the interaction. He knew the feeling that most had about the Lieutenant and he would be lying if he said he didn't share it on some level. Fortunately for him, he enjoyed a certain practical courage which many often lacked. He nodded at the two of them.

"Lieutenant Jones may bring her own rifle, Corporal. She's a member of my senior staff, and I see no reason to doubt her good intentions. She wants to get our people back as much as I do." he said, placing a strong hand on his bodyguard's shoulder for a brief moment. David, for his part, made his face a mask and showed neither signs of displeasure or of happiness.

Johnathan quietly picked up the gear that had been set out for him and checked the charge and setting on his rifle. He kept it to himself that Captain Petrov had not responded to what he had said before Melissa had entered the compartment.

"Keep your wits about you. Not everything is as it appears." Melissa noted. "Least of all this place. "

"I know, Mel," Johnathan replied with a soft grin to his friend. "I just need to get Kass back safely!" He whispered to her. "Cassie too," he added.

Troy was the next to arrive. He wore similar tactical armor as the others with one notable addition, on his hip was a scabbard holding a sword in place. He picked up a compression phaser rifle and checked the charge before turning to the others. His beloved was a prisoner along with their unborn child. He turned to the others with an expression that said he would stop at nothing to rescue their people. "Let's do this."

Ivan looked around, his eyes falling on the faces of the five Terrans gathered before him. He gave a serious expression.

"Let me make one thing clear to each and every one of you. I know you're hot under the collar about this situation....we all are. But this is still an Imperial ship and I am still in command. You will follow my lead over there; no shooting from the hip, no out of line comments, and no banjos." Ivan said, his eyes resting on Johnathan for a moment. "We are not animals, we are the superior species and we WILL get exactly what we want. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

Johnathan's cheeks turned a darker shade, from embarasment. He would not fail or disappoint his captain again.

"Good, then let's go." he said, activating his rebreather and stepping onto the transporter pad.

David followed the Captain's lead, standing directly behind and to the left of him in order to protect his life more effectively.

Johnathan moved into the transporter chamber, taking the pad to Ivan's right.

Karen stepped onto the pad behind the captain.

"Energize" Ivan said, looking at the transporter chief. A haze of blue engulfed them and the transporter room of Vengeance disappeared completely from view. Soon, the same farm reappeared before them. They were standing in the same place in front of the farm house, except, this time, the old man was sitting alone on the bench in the middle of the clearing, some ways off. "Looks like they knew we were coming.."

Melissa stayed by Ivan's side and then walked slowly. Holding her repeater at the ready to defend the Captain. She stared at the man. Unlike more hotheads on the crew, Melissa would not act unless instructed by her Captain. Even though she had experienced anger many times.. She never felt it this searing. The fact that this man was toying with them was infuriating. Inside she did not want to fight. She couldn't shake the feeling there was a reason they were taken. "Take care Captain, as there is a reason all this is happening. The more we know of this entity, the greater our chances at recovering our crewmembers."

Troy did a 360 after materializing on the Array, his phaser rifle only lifting as not to flag his companions. He felt a cold anger build within him. He was going to get Callie back even if it meant searching every centimeter of the Array. He glanced at Ivan. It was his away team.

Johnathan kept his cool better this time around. While he saw David stick to the Captain's left side like glue, the young pilot decided to remain on Ivan's right, in case something happened.

Karen had her tricorder instead of her rifle drawn. She was taking readings as she walked.

Ivan didn't hesitate, but put one foot in front of the other toward the old man sitting on the bench. His rifle was, unlike his officers, slung over his shoulder in a relaxed position. Seeing the group, the white-haired old man frowned and waved his hand.

"Oh, not you again! You don't have what I need!"

"But you have what we need." Ivan said, coming very close and stopping right in front of the man. "First of all, I want my two crew members returned to our ship immediately. Secondly, I demand that you return us to the Alpha Quadrant and to our home."

"Well, I can't return you to your home. Not now or ever. There just isn't enough time." the old man said.

"Well then," Ivan growled, a deep frown on his face. "You'd better make time, or I will rest at nothing to destroy you and this array. I will tear down your construct brick by brick to get my crew home."

The man looked up at Ivan and seemed more annoyed than fearful.

"You wouldn't understand. I cannot do this for you because I must pour out the rest of my life in service to my masters." he said, waving them with his hand. "Now get out of here and leave me to my servitude."

"But you don't like it, don't you. You masters use you and you know it. You hate every moment of it. You and I are not that different." Melissa noted.

"It doesn't matter what I like, girl." the old man said. "They have technical knowledge which compels me to do exactly what they want from me. And they do not wish for me to send you anywhere or to return your crew to you."

"Oh but it does, Old man." Melissa noted. "Let's take a look at your shackles. Maybe there's a way to break your chains, as we have technology as well. Or you can wallow here in self pity and be something below an insect."

He looked at Melissa, and for an instant, an expression close to hope or desire slipped across his face. Then, after the instant was gone, he shook his head, seeming to be trying to convince himself.

"What does it matter? You see...I'm dying." he said.

"Who has you under their control?" Ivan asked, folding his arms under his chest.

"The Ocampa...have held me in bondage for hundreds of their generations."

"I assume they are receiving the bursts of energy you are sending at regular intervals?"

"Through an act of carelessness, we destroyed their bountiful world." the man said with great feeling, nodding. "They have made me compensate them with years of life and with hardship."

Ivan clearly cared little for the plight of this man, but turned to Johnathan and Troy and pursed his lips.

"These Ocampa must seek genetic information from Kassandra and Callie."

"It must be very lonely," Karen said in a softer tone. "But it seems you have a device of immense power here. I am not sure we would trust a slave with such an array?" She took a step closer.

Troy gave the old man a stern look, his phaser rifle not pointed at him...directly. "Just tell us where our missing officers are at old man."

“It was mine in the first place, and I would not give it over to them, though I suppose, when I am dead, it will be theirs to deal with as they see fit.” The old man said. “Your people are with the Ocampa, behind my reach and beyond yours. Move on with your lives.”

Melissa began to scan the old man and began to study the readings she was getting. "Lieutenant Lamont..." She noted. "He is some kind of Subspace Lifeform. Modified with some kind of technology. Hmmmm..." Melissa began to do some thinking.

Karen nodded to Melissa but she kept her eyes on the old man. "It's interesting that they could enslave you but they couldn't take the array from you. You could leave or bring allies for yourself instead of just subjects for them, right? Do you enjoy these little parties? I imagine they're different for every species you find."

“It’s more complicated than that.” He said, cryptically, turning his head down.

"You've lived this long as their slave.." Melissa noted. "Do you want to die as their slave? Sitting here with your banjo and your annoying music. What do you have left to lose? You certainly don't have any dignity. They've taken that too."

“What’s the point?” He asked. “I’ve reached the end of my life. I may have little to lose, but I have nothing to gain either.”

“This is pointless.” Ivan said. “We know where our people are. What’s to stop us from going to get them right now?”

The old man looked at him and frowned, tired looking.

“Nothing is stopping you at all.” He said quietly. “Do what you must…and I will do what I must. But I cannot help. There just isn’t enough time left.”

Melissa looked at the man and then walked up, activating her tricorder. She began to do some work.

"I am attempting to disable their control over you. Then... You will decide what happens next. How you spend your final moments. That's up to you. Either way, you cannot remain under their control." Melissa noted. "Then you can at least face your end on your terms. Doctor, can you assist?"

"I can," Karen said, looking down at her own tricorder once more and frowning in concentration.

"A minor bipedal species like yourselves? Able to do in the sweep of a motion what I could not do in hundreds of years? You are silly." the old man said with a wave of his hand again. "They aren't containing me he through means you could hope to dissipate with that absurd devise your holding, or any technology on your ship or in your database for that matter. It is above you...information given to them by another of my kind. She taught them to control me in order to set herself free."

He now looked angry, his features turning down into a fuming expression that accented the pain of that betrayal. Ivan stepped forward.

"If you refuse to send us home, then you are more a danger to us alive than dead." he said, raising his own riffle. His bodyguard behind him followed suit. "So send us home now or we will kill you and use your technology to do it ourselves."

"You haven't been listening! I don't have time to debate this with you any further! I don't have time to talk about anything anymore!"

At once, all seemed to melt away and the farm was replaced by a metallic room with an eerie glow. Before them, a large blob-like creature of deep blue floated, its mass rotating in swirling swimming patterns of incredible complexity.

"Return here again," they heard a booming voice say, shaking the room as it sounded, "and I will destroy your ship!"

In a flash, the room was replaced by the transporter room aboard Vengeance again. They had been returned from where they had come, as if they had never left. The transporter chief blinked at their arrival.

"Well, fuck." Ivan said, huffing and stepping off the pad.

"Miserable Coward." Melissa exclaimed calmly. "But I think we've learned something about this being. Something vital."

"What do you mean?" the Captain asked, turning off his rebreather and removing it from his ear.

"He's a very unique life form." Melissa noted. "I did not pick up a biological signature as we knew it, as he exists partly in subspace. It is unprecedented... and I most certainly want to kill that thing."

"I'll see what I can do about that...but for now, we need to get our people back." he said, and the tapped his commbage. "Petrov to Bridge, set a course for the planet receiving the Array's energy pulses. That's where our people are."

"Aye, sir." Commander Cain said.

While Johnathan had remained silent during this latest trip to the array, he was nearly vibrating with anger, both from how the alien was treating them, and the fact that they still hadn't rescued Kass and Callie. As he ripped the rebreather off, he turned to Ivan. "Captain, with your permission, I get up to the bridge and get us to the coordinates at maximum warp?"

Ivan leaned in to Johnathan and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We will be there in a half hour's time. Go get cleaned up and ready to do some harm when we arrive." he said, then he looked at all of them. "That goes for everyone. We can sleep when we have our people back. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir," Karen said as the landing party was dismissed. She removed her mask, looking rather frustrated. She had felt that way after every encounter with this being, like there was something just out of reach. "The lifeforms I wish we knew more about these Ocampa," she said to no one in particular as she started for sickbay, but her mind was still on the being in the array. "

Troy summoned a security detail to collect and secure the phaser rifles in the armory. He then stepped up to Ivan. "Captain, our best bet for rescuing our officers is to conduct a shock and awe combat search and rescue."

“You’ll take the lead on it, Lieutenant. When we get to the planet, you will lead the away team.” Ivan said with an affirmative but serious nod.

Troy nodded. He had a very short time to put together his rescue team. "Understood Captain. I will begin preparations immediately."