Posted by Demara Aryal (Lounge Host) in Deck 6- Main Sim

Posted by Captain Aaron Foley (Commanding Officer) in Deck 6- Main Sim

Posted by Cadet Zachariah Conway (Doctor) in Deck 6- Main Sim
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻
(Snip)
“You wouldn’t like the answer if I was honest”

“Try me.”

For potentially the first time since boarding the USS Challenger, the young cadet let out a smile and a chuckle. He took the now empty vial from the hypospray machine and inserted a new vial of Terakine. He noted that he hadn’t felt the ship shake and he wondered if whatever was going on had finally stopped and he would be able to work without fear of his patient ending up on his lap.

“Just a quick injection of painkillers, like I promised. Whilst I work, do you know what’s going on?” he asked as he continued to move methodically, injecting 2ml of Terakine in order to dull the pain the lounge host was feeling. Once the cocktail of medicines had kicked in, he could see about getting her moved to sickbay. It would just be a small wait until that occurred.

Cadet Zachariah Conway - Medical

A cryptic smile played across her face. “More than you, most likely.” She paused as the terakine started flowing through her body and she felt that moment were the pan eased. “Orions want our cargo. Our special archaeological cargo that we’re took on from a Corvallen freighter because they had been attacked multiple times. Which is curious, because unless the archaeological finds are so valuable they can sell them on the black market. But the goods will be hot, and hard to move after. Especially after alerts will be out because they attacked vessels, including a Starfleet vessel. It doesn’t add up.” How Demara knew all this was a mystery and it wasn’t like she had been on the bridge during all of this. She also wasn’t offering up any more clues just now.

~Demara, Lounge Host

Cryptic.

It was the only way to describe what the girl was saying. She clearly knew a lot about the situation, more than probably most department heads did. He wasn’t going to probe for more however, she’d given him enough to think about already. The ship had been attacked by the Orions due to some cargo that they took on board whilst he would have been working.

“Must be some important cargo” he said finally, after a few seconds of empty air. He pushed himself up to his feet, having been crouched since he’d first used the hypospray upon the lounge host. He hadn’t realised he’d gotten a bit of a cramp in his thigh from how long he’d been crouched there and he took a few seconds to shake his leg out and get some feeling back.

“Or, they think it is,” Demara countered.

“I don’t suppose they’ll stay around long enough for us to ask” he added, his more humourous side starting to show for the first time since he boarded the USS Challenger.

“You feeling up for a walk to sickbay? If not, I can try and see if we can get an emergency transport down there” he asked softly, placing the ball in her court. He wasn’t going to rid her of her independance without asking, he knew how undignified it could be to have to rely on the emergency transporter and thus he figured he would give her the option. “Hopefully those Orion’s don’t decide they fancy round three”

Cadet Zachariah Conway - Medical

She nodded. “I’m feeling better already.” The inaprovaline was helping and the internal bleeding was slowing down. She already appeared more alert than she had been.

Demara pushed herself to her feet with a smooth motion and pulled down her black tunic dress over her grey leggings. She gave him a nod and headed out of the cargo bay.

As they stepped into the corridor though the power fluctuations were more apparent than before. And then there were signs of damage, with bits of debris on the floor, holes in the ceiling and parts dangling. Demara paused and held up her left hand to signal for him to hold up. She reached into her pocket with her right hand and pulled out an impossibly tiny phaser that looked like it might be Starfleet issue. “Someone is here,” she said in a low voice.

~Mischief Maker

“What a mess”

He couldn’t even catch it, the words just slipped out of his brain without a filter the moment the duo went out into the corridor. Zachariah wasn’t an engineer by any stretch, but even he could tell there wasn’t meant to be holes in the ceiling and bits hanging down from above. Star Fleet starships had a reputation for being immaculate, and the current presentation of deck 6 was anything but.

Then she stopped him and before he knew it she had a small phaser in her hands. She spoke softly, mentioning another presence that he hadn’t even noticed. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good. She seemed much more comfortable in this situation than he, so he was more than happy to allow her to take the lead, especially since his concotion of drugs appeared to have her on the mend.

“You’re in charge” he spoke softly, quietly, gesturing to her as he did.

Cadet Zachariah Conway - Medical

Aryal gave a crisp nod, her eyes focused on the path ahead. She stepped over some debris and sidled against the wall, her steps silent. As they passed a dead-end intersection, she turned, grabbed Conway’s arm and gently pulled him into the nook, pressing her index finger against her lips.

Demara waited several moments before, she tapped his commbadge and leaned in, speaking very quietly. =/\=Aryal to the Captain. I’m with Cadet-=/\= She paused, frowned and realized they hadn’t even exchanged names.

~Mischief Maker

She was aggressive.

No, Zachariah thought to himself. Aggressive probably wasn’t the word. She was a natural born leader. She knew what she wanted and when she wanted it and Zachariah wasn’t about to argue with her. She hadn’t at any point been aggressive though, commanding for sure but that wasn’t aggressive in nature. She was definitely the correct person to be leading them.

He hadn’t really reacted when she had pulled him gently into the nook, accepting that she probably had a reason for doing so. He didn’t even react when she tapped his commbadge, however he did raise an eyebrow when she directed her next words towards the USS Challengers CO himself. Zachariah had never come across the CO of the ship and he didn’t quite know how the lounge host had either, but he also wasn’t about to question it. She clearly knew a lot more than she was letting on but it wasn’t the time or place to be figuring out just how much.

=/\= Conway, Sir =/\= he very quiety and softly spoke into his commbadge after the look he recieved from the lounge host. He realised in that moment they’d never even exchanged plesentries, something that they likely could have done when they were sat together in the storage bay waiting for the cocktail of medicines that he had given her to kick in.

Very quietly he spoke again. “I don’t like this”

Cadet Zachariah Conway - Medical

Demara gave him a reassuring look before she spoke softly into the ether again. =/\=I’m with Cadet Conway on Deck 6, between Cargo Bay 1 and 2. We have an intruder and I’m pretty sure they are after our cargo. One person. I’m armed, but send backup.=/\= She had all the confidence of someone who was very much in a position to intervene in this instance.

~Demara, Lounge Host

=^=Understood Demara. Lay low, backup is on the way.=^=

Capt Foley - CO (crosspost)

She snorted. “He should know better,” Demara murmured.

He wasn’t entirely sure when he became a security officer.

He’d gone from saving the life of the lounge host to potentially being led into a death trap by her, and the only advice offered from the top was to lay low because backup was on the way. Backup better have been coming at full sprint through the ship or else the young medical cadet was going to be having words with anyone who would listen to his complaining.

Okay, maybe he was having a minor panic attack. He took a few seconds to breath slowly, composing himself. Ultimately, Star Fleet had trained him in the basics of combat just in case. He hadn’t been taught to security level but he reckoned he could handle himself in a situation. He just needed to prevent the oncoming panic attack first. He continued breathing slowly for a few more seconds until he was back with it.

“What’s the plan?”, he asked softly.

Cadet Zachariah Conway - Medical

“We’re going to quietly gather info. Follow me,” she said, creeping back out of the nook and towards Cargo Bay 2. Technically she was laying low. She was taking exceeding caution. Ahead, the sound of a large door closing echoed in the corridor and she looked back at Zachariah. “They’re after the archaeological dig cargo.”

“I’m Demara, by the way. Demara Aryal,” she said casually and she held the weapon at the ready and continued. Till they were almost at Cargo Bay 1.

“Zachariah Conway” he said quietly.

He provided his name in response to the lounge host sharing hers. He had already established it wasn’t the time to go into how his friends on Earth knew him as Zach even though his name was Zachariah. There were more pressing issues that the duo were dealing with. There was bigger problems, namely the intruders whom had managed to board the USS Challenger.

Somewhere down the hallway a doorway opened and closed a few seconds later. Two security officers had quickly exited, covering both ways as they looked up and down the hallway.

=^= NE Salot to Cadet Conway. The cavalry is here cadet, where are you currently located?=^= The first one said quietly into his commbadge.

NE Sho Salot - Security

Demara gave a nod as she stood at the edge of the door, careful not to trigger the door to open.

~Mischief Maker

=/\= Cadet Conway for NE Salot, we’re outside cargo bay one. Appreciate the assist. =/\= he spoke quietly into the commbadge.

He had allowed Demara to guide them to the cargo bay and he had simply followed. She had the phaser and she had confidence which suggested that she knew how to handle herself. He wondered if she’d served in Star Fleet previously as some form of security officer however he had no proof of that. He had a few theories, however he wasn’t certain on any yet.

“Backup’s enroute. You think we can protect the cargo?”

Cadet Zachariah Conway - Medical

=^=Understood Cadet. We are on our way.=^=

NE Salot tapped his partner on the shoulder before they turned and moved down the hallway towards the cargo bay.

NE Sho Salot - Security

=/\= Overheard, all urgency is appreciated =/\=.

The young cadet removed his fingers from his commbadge and turned to glance at Demara, offering her a nod. His fingers then reached for his commbadge again and he spoke once more. =/\= Cadet Conway to the bridge. Apologies for the blatant breach of protocol, but I thought you should be aware that it appears our deck six intruders are making for cargo bay one =/\=

=/\=Just one intruder, actually. And they slipped into the cargo bay. I heard the door close,=/\= Demara chimed in.

His eyes remained on Demara and if she studied him close enough, she would probably see the fear in them. Breaching protocol by directly addressing the bridge crew pained him, Star Fleet mandated that the chain of command was kept at all times. In this situation however, he figured that the situation was urgent enough that he could justify it and Demara had already flaunted the rules once already by using his commbadge to directly speak with the captain.

Cadet Zachariah Conway - Medical

The thing was that Demara didn’t need to see him to know what he was feeling. It radiated off him in waves, and she understood the levels of apprehension. So much of what was happening in this moment was not part of the base level training these cadets would have had in classrooms and in field exercises. But that was why they did this training cruise. They got practical and real experience in situations that could end up being boring, or like today, rather extraordinary.

She reached out and touched Conway’s elbow, giving him the barest hint of a nod before she spoke into the open comm line. =/\=Aaron, I’ve got the read on this. Let me do my thing. Back up is almost here, I promise I won’t do anything too crazy… this time,=/\= she said, her lips slipping into a sly smile. Spotting the security guards approaching, she pressed a finger to her lips and gave a very standard signal to approach slowly.

~Demara, Lounge Host

Zachariah shook his head.

Star Fleet taught the basics of combat to all officers. All officers were expected to be able to handle themselves should it be required. All officers, from medical to science to security were all expected to pull their weight if it was necessary. Zachariah never expected it to be necessary however. As a medical officer, he expected to be offering medical assistance to those who were engaging in combat and not actually be engaging in it himself.

His strict adherence to policy and procedure meant that he would get involved if he needed to, as expected of all Star Fleet officers. He couldn’t deny though, he was nervous. He didn’t join Star Fleet to be a security officer, he’d never had the levels of training that security officers had. He didn’t join Star Fleet to get involved with jobs that were definitely for security officers.

Classrooms could never prepare you for the real life of serving aboard a Star Fleet vessel and this incident was nothing if not proof of that.

Cadet Zachariah Conway - Medical

=^=You know you don’t always have to be the hero right?=^= he said with a breathy laugh. =^=Try not to put too many holes in my ship, and if it gets too dicey pull back and wait for backup. We have more then just you to think about these days.=^=

Capt Foley - CO (crosspost)

Demara smirked. =/\=I have a plan and trust me, Foley, I’m well area that this isn’t about me. Deck 6 out.=/\=

Still keeping to a whisper, she gestured for the security officers to huddle up. All of her gestures thus far had been textbook hand signals. She gave Conway a reassuring nod. “Okay, here’s the plan. We need eyes on what’s happening but we can’t get in there without losing our advantage. The cargo is the key and we need to protect it. Conway and I will try to get to it, and you security-folk will focus on taking down our infiltrator. I need you to distract them from their goal and stop them from making this situation worse. Question? Concerns? Now’s the time to air it because this is going to move fast.”

~Demara, Lounge Host

He looked around the group.

The reassuring nod definitely didn’t help to calm his nerves. He still wasn’t excited for what came next. He was even less excited when their lounge host stated he was going to be making for the cargo and assisting to protect it. Zachariah guessed it was truly time to prove himself as a Star Fleet officer. He was hoping for some form of medal or early graduation if he proved himself.

“We definitely don’t have the time to address all of my concerns” he half joked, a nervous chuckle on the end for good measure. “I’ve already said it but i’ll say it again. Demara, you’re in charge” he confirmed, his eyes cast to the lounge host. She had trusted him to help save her life and now he was putting his trust in her. “Tell me what you need me to do and I’ll try and get out of there in one piece when it’s all said and done”

Cadet Zachariah Conway - Medical