[OOC: This is a comprehensive summary of the current situation, beginning with an overview and proceeding to direct quotes.]

During the combat with the Romulan insurgents, a Charon class warpshuttle (runabout) is shot down and crashes in the built-up area around one of the Portals. First contact is made with a group of Chirpers, a diminutive winged humanoid species apparently from the Grandfather's home universe. Lt Dovan, a Deltan medic disappears, leaving behind his burnt-out tricorder with what turn out to be traces of Borg nanoprobes and a small piece of alloy is seen moving along the ground. It turns out to be monotanium, an alloy from the Delta quadrant, not known for its unusual mobility. They also find the empty shell of Dovan's commbadge and sensors are able to detect traces of degraded Deltan pheromones.

An alert is put out for a Deltan lieutenant possibly in the company of a Chirper. This Chirper had been a patient under the care of Dr. Dovan. The team is issued Type III Compression Phaser Rifles, Lt Tony Gazzo's Tech Assessment Kit, Lt Pierce's Field Medical Kit, Anti-Gravity Boots, Tricorders, an Exocomp which Tony has dubbed Shemp. Dovan is also believed to be accmpanied by Unit QXVR135, a Borg-infested exocomp dubbed Larry. Searching a building while following Dovan, the team comes under attack and returns fire, stunning the Chirper, which is partially assimilated and was the vector by which Dovan was infected by Borg nanoprobes. It is beamed up to the Thames and placed in stasis.

The team, which now consists of LCdr Kat Carson (NPC), Lt Zedric Sloane (Steve, in the Thames), Lt(jg) Jon Clare (Dave), Lt Nathan Pierce MD (PC) [OOC: Player Character, not a Personal Computer], Lt(jg) Talja Groen (NPC, also in the Thames), Lt(jg) Tony Gazzo (NPC), Lt(jg) Billy Xelox (NPG) and Jedi Knight Lt(jg, provisional) Dhalkhino (NPC) determines that Dovan has taken a subterranean subshuttle. They are able to contact the Sphere Avatar, to which they have been  accorded Researcher Access Level theta. While the Avatar cannot directly track Dovan's subshuttle but can monitor conditions in the tunnel and thus maintain a rough fix - until it disappears from the location. The team's subshuttle proceeds, going through a junction which teleports them halfway across the Sphere; and the Avatar gets a fix on Dovan's subshuttle approaching a station 250km ahead. Samson informs them, "The Bras d'Or is within range and we'll have them beam you there... Wait, they're reporting on a preliminary scan of the area. High chroniton readings and an area which seems somehow shielded..."

USS Bras d'Or beams the team to the station, where they are joined by LCdr Kat Carson, XO and Science Officer of the Bras d'Or. She has been revealed to be one of the Lintilla clones who has been trapped in this universe for several years and has joined Starfleet. She has a captured Romulan engineering tricorder with a cloaking maintenance software package. She is accompanied by Lt Buran, a Bolian (PC) [OOC: Still not a Personal Computer or even a MacIntosh] computer specialist. Buran prefers to use a Type II Phaser to a Type III. Shemp scans the area ahead and gets a lock on Larry who is moving fast and showing increased power consumption. Tony deduces that Dovan is riding Larry like a grav bike.

Buran taps icons on his own tricorder. He is able to detect the boridium power signature that Tony mentioned. He's able to piggyback the tricorder's remote sensors to the signal and hack into Larry's CPU. The resulting decoded signals are Borg encoding, tailored for the limited AI routines in the exocomp's computer. There are several sideband signals, but the main ones are what appear to be a set of coordinates. Buran's task is made somewhat easier by the fact that the Borg are using a translation matrix to communicate with Larry's Federation standard equipment and this gives him the foothold in the Borg encryption he needs to figure out that the coordinates are actually in a format of Romulan origin. This confirms the hasty briefing Buran was given that the Borg infestation seems to be related to the Romulan attack the night before. Buran's natural species-based ability to multitask allows him to perform the complex calculations while travelling at 70km/h. Dovan fires a Phaser at the team.

Dahlakino shouts, "That was Dovan! I'm able to sense him more clearly. He's shooting to kill." Tony reports, "He's using a Type II, maximum range 100 metres. He can't realistically hit us." Shemp hoots and whistles. The commbadges translate this as "Incoming message from Unit QXVR135, designation Larry. 'Resistance is futile'." Lt Pierce says to Shemp, "Send back a message to the QXVR135 Unit 'Resistance is fun and we are going to use the fun to disable you'." Shemp replies, "Message sent. No reply. Query: Message makes no sense. What is the purpose of the message?" Tony comments, "Ah, the James T. Kirk school of computer programming. A classic. Don't worry, li'l buddyI'll explain later." Billy replies, "Don't think even Kirk could bullshit the Borg, but it's worth a try."

Jon, Tony, and Shemp peel off to the right, while everybody else goes left. They all manoeuvre into effective range, being careful to keep under cover as much as possible. "Carson, Tony and I will take some shots to draw his fire," says Jon over the comms. "While he is focussing on us, you should be able to get a good clear shot! Everyone ready?" Jon, peeking out from the cover of some trees, aims his rifle and fires.

Clare's commbadge chirps, "Jon, this is Zed, I'm calling in a couple of runabouts with fire suppression foam. Capt Samson ordered them put on standby after we shot down the Rom runabout." A second hail cuts in, "Bras d'Or to all units, we've detected indications of a six-pointed star-shaped installation 25 kliks northeast of your position. Tactical evaluates it as a Type 2 Romulan Observation post... The tachyon net is still up and is interfering with its cloaking field." "Shit!" exclaims Jon, as the flames and smoke obscure his shot at Dovan. "Carson, I don't have a shot anymore! How does it looks from your side?" Jon takes out his tricorder to see if he can pinpoint Dovan's position through the haze. "This works both ways, of course," says Jon to Tony. "Can we use all this to sneak up closer to him?"

Sloane is listening in on your comms chatter, "I've switched us to a secure frequency courtesy of our Security chief, so Dovan can't listen in. Your tactics are sound, but I'm having Talja beam breathing masks to all your commbadge locators. We don't know what toxins may be in the local grass, and breathing smoke isn't recommended for your health anyway. Sorry, Nathan, but I don't want to give you more work treating smoke inhalation. The Bras d'Or has detected Dovan's presumed destination. We don't want to lose Dovan or I'd beam you there site-to-site. Capt Talliaferro is beaming down a Security team to observe the installation 'til you can get there. Zed out."

Nathan estimates that he has sufficient burn gel, spray bandage and a fully charged dermal regenerator, all courtesy of the mission to treat the Chirpers, to treat any exposure to the grass fire. Buran notes that Larry's boridium power signature is accelerating in the direction of the installation's coordinates, at a velocity of 75km/h. Dovan is almost certainly not riding him, as this is half again as fast as Larry was able to maintain carrying an adult humanoid. Seconds later, a breathing mask appears at everybody's location. This covers the mouth and nose, and has a compressed breathing capsule. It is accompanied by a pair of auto-polarising goggles, which Dahlakino discards in favour of the goggles attached to her headgear. At Jon's command, the team rises a few metres in the air. Entering the smoke, the eyegear resolves their view as if the smoke were not there, and negates the glare from the flames.

At the mention of a secure communication channel, Buran taps his badge to report his latest findings. "It appears that Dovan is no longer riding on Larry, but hopped off somewhere between the Romulan Observation post and where he started the fire. If we proceed in, we need to be cautious.  Larry is moving quickly towards the observation post, so have the security team be on the look out for him." At the hum of the transporter, Buran quickly dons the new gear. As he rises into the air, he taps a few buttons into his tricorder to try to isolate any unique materials that would be in the phaser that Dovan was carrying, on the off chance that Dovan could mask his own energy readings, but might not think to mask the gear he was carrying. He moves cautiously into the smoky area, hoping to move down the closest edge of the fire towards the observation post. The most obvious distinguishing element in the phaser is the sarium krellide power cell. Even though Buran can detect the power cell in the weapons of all the others, there is no trace of Dovan's phaser.

Buran is just about to give up scanning when the phaser's sarium krellide power cell appears on his scan, abbruptly moving about 10 metres in a ballistic arc, as if thrown and just as abruptly stopping and moving a metre and a half downwards. The signal then gives off the distinctive reading of a ruptured power cell and shuts off. He's able to locate the position of the now-inert phaser on the ground. Dahlakino signals that the machine intelligence has ceased communication with Dovan. Nathan is suddenly able to sense Dovan—the suppression of his psionics seems to have suddenly ceased. Dovan is unconscious and in great pain and both he and Buran can suddenly locate Dovan's life signs.

Moving out of the pall of smoke, the team finds Dovan lying crumpled in the wooded area. A number of the pseudo-gazelles have stampeded through the area and overrun Dovan's position. At least one of them has gored and trampled him and he lies in a pool of blood. Nathan drops to the ground and begins assessing Dovan's condition. Tony yells, "Watch out! He may still be dangerous!" Buran notes the location of the phaser lying at the foot of a tree. There is a gouge in the bark of the tree and the casing of the phaser is quite obviously cracked from the impact. Buran scans the area with his tricorder, trying to determine if any more of the gazelle-like animals were heading this direction.  Buran taps his combadge, "We have found Dovan, who appears to have been ran over by some native fauna. Dr. Pierce is examining him, but his life signs indicate he is unconscious." Buran taps his combadge again. "Someone should stay here with Dr. Pierce, while the rest of us continue after Larry. Who knows what mischief he could be causing at the Romulan Observation Post."

Jon does a quick scan of the broken phaser, to ensure that it is not unstable. "Let's beam Dr. Pierce and Dovan out of here, and continue the pursuit," Jon says. "Thames, did you copy that? And does somebody have a pinpoint on Larry's current position?" Buran still has a lock on Larry, which agrees with Talja's scans. Larry is about 10 klicks away, heading at top speed for an exocomp directly towards the suspected position of the Romulan installation.

Zed beams Nathan and Dovan up to the Thames. Arriving on the Runabout, Nathan continues his scan of Dovan. He's suffering a puncture wound in his chest from the serrated spiral horn of the beast, with a deflated left lung. Nathan hurriedly seals the lung puncture with a dermal regenerator and reinflates the lung itself. Next he continues his inspection, There are a number of more-or-less superficial injuries and a compound skull fracture with attendant subdural hæmatoma. Pending more medical resources, Nathan places the Deltan doctor in a medical stasis tube.

Meanwhile, back on the ground, Kat's commbadge chirps. "Carson, we've got a lock on Unit QXVR135. We're preparing to beam it up into a stasis chamber. Our Security team observing the Romulan installation confirms it and notes that the cloaking field is unstable and flickering. From the few good scans they've been able to get of the interior, the internal conditions seem to be a temperature of 39.1 °C (102.38 °F), 92% relative humidity, an atmospheric pressure of approximately 102 kPa, and trace amounts of tetryon particles. Typical of the Enterprise's recorded readings of a Borg envoronment.Transporter room indicates your exocomp is in stasis. How do you wish to proceed?"

Kat looks to Jon. "Clare, you're mission commander. Your decision." "Our orders were to retrieve Dovan and and the exocomp," says Jon "Which we have accomplished, thanks to some good luck and African wildlife!" Jon shrugs noncommittally. "I'd like to do something about that Borgified Romulan base," he says. "But we are going to need more intel. Thames, Bras d'Or! Any readings, or educated guesstimates about how many Borg drones may be in that base?" Jon thinks for moment, and then adds "And is there any reason why we don't just bombard it from space?"

Lt. Pierce has been doing his job, waiting behind. When Dovan became injured he took over to make sure the man survived. Once he place the Deltan doctor in a medical stasis tube their was little he could do for him now. "Nathan to Clare. Dovan's major wounds have been deal with so that he is stable. I've put him in status until be get back to a bigger medical facility to carry out further healing process. There's little more I can do for him now. Do you want me to beam back and join the group?" Jon responds to Nathan "No, don't beam directly to us. Let's all beam closer. Bras d'Or, is there a secluded spot closer to the outpost that we can all beam to? Also, what are our objective now? Do you want us to recon the base, or somehow destroy it?"

In response to Jon's comment about bombarding the outpost, Kat says, "I don't think that would be a good idea. The only method of bombardment we have is photorps. One of the side-products of an antimatter explosion is hard gamma radiation. The "space" within the Sphere isn't actually outer space. We don't know what the ramifications would be. Besides, the shell of the Sphere isn't true neutronium, but a form of collapsium known as carbon-neutronium. We have no idea what its reaction to antimatter would be. It may actually fracture the structure of the Sphere. What say we don't test that hypothesis, eh? As for Borg drones, we have no idea how many Romulans were in the installation. If there were any, the probability they've been assimilated is... well, it's pretty certain." Tony chimes in, "Ain't that a cheery thought? Pointy-eared murder-cyborgs on the loose!"

In reply to Jon's question to the Bras d'Or, Capt Taliaferro replies, "Well, we could beam you down to join our reconnaissance party. They're about a klick from the clearing around the installation. Lt Churchill can brief you on the situation there." Nathan and Talja beam down. Talja is wearing full security armour and carrying an isomagnetic disintegrator. "Sounds like you may have need a bigger gun," she quips. Tony says, "Hey, isn't that overkill?" She smiles and retorts, "Wasn't it Napoleon that said, 'God is on the side with the best artillery?" Lt Pierce adds in, "Unless it rains overnight.  Then you have to wait for the day to dry out. Problem's them Prussians are always on the way." Then he adds, "I think that's right." Talja laughs, "Luckily, I'm Bayerische, not Prussian. Besides, we're not getting involved in a land war in Asia." She hefts the Bazooka-like weapon on her shoulder.

Kat's commbadge reports, "Talliaferro here; Samson agrees that we've got to nip this in the bud. We're prepared to beam you directly to the site." She looks around and says, "Energise." The transporter effect envelopes the away team and they find themselves in a more densely wooded area. They are on the edge of a cleared space. A group of Starfleet personnel are concealed in the bush around them. One approaches Carson. "Lieutenant Manuel Espinosa, ma'am. I've got a 6-man recce team. As you can see..." he gestures, "...the installation's cloak seems to be failing." Indeed, a large, low angular building fades into visibility then turns vaguely transparent then disappears again. "It's a bog-standard Romulan type B surveillance installation. As reported, the internal environment is Borg standard. We can't get any life-signs, but that's to be expected."

"Don't we have some Romulan prisoners?" Jon asks the Bras d'Or. "Ask them how many people were in this base!"  "Yep. Couple dozen. Half of them are wounded and the other half aren't talking. Stubborn people, the Romulans. Comes from being related to the Vulcans," replies Taliaferro.

Jon greets Lt. Espinosa, and then asks "Have any ground-level entrances been identified? And are cloak failures becomes more frequent and longer? I can't say I like the idea of sneaking up on something we can't see!" Espinosa pulls out a PADD. "I pulled up the intel on the place. It's a standard modular construct. We've interpolated all our scans and worked out a model based on them, so we're pretty certain where the access points are, here, here and here." He points out the locations on the PADD and points out the team's location at the centre-left edge of the hex-map.

"I wonder if this has been connected in any way to the sphere's underground network," Jon says, musing out loud. "Perhaps not, or Dovan and Larry would have come straight here!"


This message was last edited by the GM at 20:24, Mon 02 May 2022.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 1):

Jon points to the access point that can be approached with the best cover. "Let's head towards this entrance," he says. "If the cloak is bouncing up and down like that, they still may be actively assimilating the base, and won't pay attention to us unless we are an active threat."

"Of course, an active threat is exactly what we want to be!" continued Jon. "Any suggestions on that front? The only ideas I have revolve around overloading the base's power supply."

Lt Churchill, head of the recce team, trots over and passes Jon his PADD. "See there, on the closest triangle? According to specs, there are several roof hatches for shuttles and a runabout—what they call a warpshuttle. And on each of the two triangles on each side, there's an airlock at the outer end." The data PADD shows a hexagonal core building with six triangular structures surrounding it. Sure enough the airlocks and roof hatches are marked.

Churchill continues, "We're a touch over two kliks. We could do a stealthy advance and try to break in."

Tony nudges Billy and grins wide. "Feel up to a little B&E?" he asks his fellow Iotian.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 3):

"I am all for a stealthy advance," says Jon, "but how are we going to get onto the roof? Is there a convenient ladder, or do you have some climbing gear?"

[OOC: Who is in charge of our little group? Does the recce team have a ranking officer?]
This message was last edited by the player at 14:15, Sat 30 Apr 2022.

Lt. Nathan looks over the group and sighs.

"Well running or crawling up to things and hitting them is not really my thing.
I am going to hang back and deal with anything bad that happen to anybody.  Once the place is safe then you can call me if you need help with the computers and finding any useful information out."

[Note, I've updated the list of those present in the synopsis above. They are LCdr Kat Carson (NPC), Lt Zedric Sloane (Steve, in the Thames), Lt(jg) Jon Clare (Dave), Lt Nathan Pierce MD (PC), Lt(jg) Talja Groen (NPC), Lt(jg) Tony Gazzo (NPC), Lt(jg) Billy Xelox (NPC), Jedi Knight Lt(jg, provisional) Dhalkhino (NPC) and newly arriving Lt Buran (NPC). Buran does not know the rest of the team and is technically subordinate to Zed.]

Yes, the team from the Thames II and LCdr Carson all have grav boots. Currently, Lt(jg) Jon Clare is in charge, LCdr Carson having deferred to him as mission commander (though if Zed beams down, he would be in command). Lt Churchill is in command of the recce team, though as a member of Bras D'Or's crew, Carson is higher in the chain of command.

The roof hatches will likely require breaking in using phasers, but the four personnel airlocks (or even the walls) would be easier to breach using Dhalkino's lightsabre. If the action takes place on the ground, Nathan will be more easily ably to render medical aid.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:02, Tue 03 May 2022.

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 6):

[OOC: Odd. I posted some days ago, but it didn't show up]

"OK, let's do a ground level break in," says Jon. "But we will move forward in stages. Gazzo, Dhalkhino, Carson, you're with me. We'll make the breach, while the rest of you hang back at the tree line, watch for incoming, and provide cover if necessary. Once we are in you can move forward and follow us."

"Sounds good in theory, Lieutenant, but incomplete. How many groups? We've also got Lt. Churchill's recce team - six additional personnel with security training; Churchill, Espinoza, Rabinowitz, Goodman, Clarke and Chalke." admonishes Carson. "Use all your resources wisely. For a break-in you might need Talja's isomagnetic disintegrator."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:23, Tue 10 May 2022.

In reply to LCdr. Katrina Carson (msg # 8):

[OOC: totally forgot about the recce team :P]

"Good points, LCdr," says Jon. "How about you switch with Talja, and take charge of the group that is hanging back and providing cover."

"Lt. Churchill," Jon continues. "I get the feeling you favour the roof entrances. Let's do simultaneous break-ins, with your team taking the upper route. Also, can I take one of your team to add to mine? We could use a security specialist."

"Sounds like an idea, Lt Clare," replies Kat. "Lt Gröen, looks like you're up."

"Lieutenant, I'll second Goodman and Rabinowitz to you. Crewman Rabinowitz is familiar with Romulan systems and PO Goodman is one of our Borg specialists," says Churchill. "I have no preference as to my infiltration route but if you take a ground entry, I'll gladly take the roof." He turns to the rest of his recce team, "All right, boys and girls, saddle up!"

Goodman is a tall, rail-thin black man, while Rabinowitz is a short, stocky woman with a prominent nose.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:31, Sun 15 May 2022.

[OOC: Will get caught up on the weekend and start posting.] 

In reply to Lt Zedrick Sloane (msg # 11):

"Let's go!" says Jon, and heads off towards the base, keeping under cover as much as possible. Jon is feeling nervous as all get out—having Carson correct him has dashed his confidence. He worries if there is anything else he had missed.

At the edge of the last group of trees, the group pauses and Jon indicates for Goodman to do a scan to ensure nothing unexpected lies between them and the base.

Lt. Nathan Pierce listen to what being said.  He studied the basic of combat statics.  Mostly to know when to act to help and heal others.  Also when to withdraw and not make himself a easy target.  Clearly most of the others here where far more experience at combat side of this.
I ready.  Call if you need my help.

In reply to Lt. Nathan Pierce MD (msg # 13):

Zed replies "Ready"

Zed starts following close behind Lt. Clare scanning as he goes. Being very conscious from the reports he has read that Borg typically will not engage if they are not threatened so making sure he doesn't do anything that would make them fell threatened.

[OOC: Is Zed following with sensors from the runabout, or has he beamed down?]

Jon leads his team about one hundred and twenty five metres before stopping at a large clump of trees. Goodman pulls out his tricorder and starts a scan. "Sir, it's mostly clear veldt from here on in. There are some terrain irregularities and minor shrubberies," he reports. "No sign of Borg activity."

Churchill reports from his new position at the other end of the copse, about 50 metres away, "All clear from our vantage point. I can see a ladder going up to the rooftop. Ready to move on your signal."

In reply to Relic GM (msg # 15):

[OOC: sorry miss read.  I am scanning from the runabout.]

In reply to Lt Zedrick Sloane (msg # 16):

"OK, let's move out!" says Jon. "Carson, keep an eye out and keep scanning for Borg activity."

Jon also signals back to Zed. "Keep a transporter lock on us just in case we need an emergency beam out. Coordinate with the Bras d'Or, since there are more than the runabout can handle."

Jon and Churchill's groups head out simultaneously, Churchill heading for the ladder, and Jon heading for the nearest ground-level hatchway.