Posted by Captain Molly Holloway (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Commotion in the Holodeck (tag Security)
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Issac let the Chief lead; taking a moment to fire off a few poorly-aimed shots in the general direction of the unseen creature. Maybe they’d slow it down.

Quickly, he followed after Holloway - she seemed to have recovered rapidly from her fall. Keeping pace, he stayed behind the Chief by a few meters, with the goal of providing cover with the sole flashlight. “What are these things?!” he yelled out; hoping for an answer.

Ensign Issac Forgrave, Security

One thing was certain – Holloway ran fast. Her feet seemed to be able to predict exactly when protruding tree roots and other obstacles would appear in their path in order to avoid them. It was almost as if the environment itself was second nature to her.

“Training creatures.” Molly replied over her shoulder as she ran. “Made out of a mix of features from species in the computer’s database.”

“What the frak?” Issac asked, mostly to himself. “Nothing I’ve heard of in training!” He tried picking up his pace, but to no avail - he just didn’t know the terrain; and cliche or otherwise, a twisted ankle could have disastrous consequences.

As the steps grew closer and the growls grew louder, Holloway caught something in the corner of her eye. The creature. On all fours, it was catching up to them, almost running by their side through the trees. “On your right!” She yelled at Forgrave as she pointed her phaser and shot. The energy beam of the shots that hit the target seemed to push the creature to the side, but not enough to make it lose its balance or stray it from their path.

At the Chief’s warning, Issac tried to turn and face the threat; but his feet got tangled in the dense undergrowth. He used the creature’s distraction to get his feet cleared, but he had lost his momentum. What the HELL have I gotten myself into…

Looking ahead through the tree trunks, it was now more obvious that a clearing lay ahead. If only they could outrun the creature. As Molly increased her speed leaving the creature slightly behind, it didn’t go unnoticed to her that there was only one chasing them, but she shrugged her miscount as lack of practice.

Behind the Intel Chief, Forgrave would be able to notice Holloway’s increase in pace, the creature in and out of sight on their right side, parallel to them, until he couldn’t see it anymore. It was then, after a few moments, that he would feel the quick thumping of steps behind him, and a sudden weight on his back that sent him flying forwards.

Capt. Holloway, CIO

Ensign Forgrave landed hard on his shoulder; barely managing to keep hold of his light and phaser. He grunted heavily with the impact; there was a new, sharp pain in his ribs that worried him. But no time for that now. For the second time in as many minutes, Issac rolled and scrambled on the ground, hoping to gain distance.

On his back now, he held his left fist close to his chest, flashlight lit and blazing up in the direction of his attacker. His right arm thrust his phaser forwards, thumb mashing the power to max before firing. Maybe he could buy enough distance and time to start running again.

The moment the light shone in the creature’s face, it produced a loud squeal, much akin to the ones produced by pigs in the centuries old pig slaughters found on some regions of Earth. It retreated, trying to put as much distance as possible between itself and the light. And then the phaser fired. The creature fell silent for a moment. If there were any distinctive features on its face, it would show confusion and surprise. Without warning, it vanished, the energy it was composed of sucked back into the holodeck’s grid.

Issac let his arms fall back, allowing himself a moment of relaxation. He rolled over into a kneeling position, taking shallow breaths and clutching his ribs in pain.

Running towards the Ensign, Molly was baffled. “Are you okay?” She said helping Forgrave out to his feet. “What did you do? What setting did you have your phaser on? I’ve been using this program for eight years and this had never happened before!” Although to be fair, she had never tried to hack her own security codes before, which was technically what she had tried to do that night, so everything was a bit wonky. But as far as she was concerned, Security didn’t need to know that part.

“Gah!” Frograve gave out a sharp grunt when helped to his feet - “I’m… eh, I’m alright. For now. Ribs hurt. I can move.” His strained voice and tensed posture suggested he was hurting more than he was willing to admit. “Phaser on max. Sixteen.” Issac was taking short, careful breaths, trying not to bother his aching ribs. Damn; hope they aren’t broken… “Light might’ev… Softened ‘em up.”
“Lets move.”

Molly’s the Ensign suspiciously. She could recognize broken ribs, or at least severely bruised ones, when she saw them, and Forgrave’s current behavior seemed to fit right in the description.

Ne Jo’han was caught off-guard by the creature’s reaction; or lack therov. He managed to hold still upon realization the creature was blind; but it was a struggle. This thing was nothing he recognized, and his phaser was not having the desired effect. Mentally crossing his fingers, he carefully thumbed his phaser to max, and drew a firm bead on the monster’s head. He hoped that might kill it; or at least have some effect.

Ensign Issac Forgrave, Security

Deeper in the rainforest, a pained squeal echoed through the trees, distracting the creature on NE Jo’han’s aim. As the phaser’s energy beam hit the back of its head, the creature turned again in the direction of the Security Ensign. For a moment it seemed… hurt? Jo’han would be able to see a distinct burn mark on its skin where the beam had landed.

Slowly, the massive creature placed a hand on the back of its head as if trying to check the wound. Unexpectedly, it lost its balance, falling down. It weight causing the ground around it to shake slightly. There was no telling whether it was dead or just unconscious.

Ne Jo’han let out a shuddering sigh of relief; he didn’t know what he would have done had that not worked. Not willing to take any chances, he fired into the fallen creature several more times until it vanished, dismissed by the holodeck program. In the new silence, he thought he heard some quiet voices - not having any other ideas, he set off to hopefully meet up with Forgrave. Was that a clearing off in the distance?

The one extra shot was enough to make the creature vanish. With it gone, the only remaining sounds were those of the birds and insects so common in a rainforest. Within the dark stretch of trees NE Jo’han was on, it would not be hard to find the path that led to the clearing.

As the low grumble caused by the second creature’s fall reached Holloway and Forgrave, the Intel Chief seemed apprehensive. “Come on.” Molly said to the Security officer. “Let’s get to the clearing before we have any more unexpected surprises. I don’t want to spend the rest of the night in sickbay.”

Capt. Holloway, CIO

“Yeah.” Issac nodded firmly - if the clearing was supposed to be a safe area, he wanted to be there ASAP. His ribs were screaming in pain, and he stepped with care; not wanting to jostle them unnecessarily. Using this program for eight years, eh? So why ain’t it listenin’ to ya all of a sudden? His mind raced around, asking questions in an effort to distract from the pain in his side. Been up all night, broken holodeck, she supposedly knows this program. Someone else sabotage it? Possible; but why no sleep? She’s on first shift; unlikely to be trading sleep for training. Did she break the holodeck? Why.... Restricted program? And what was that intruder alert about… Too many questions. Need answers. Issac’s face firmed - something was suspicious here; and he wanted to know more. Being that the person involved was the Chief Intelligence Officer, he knew he needed to be careful. Maybe he could use his ‘fresh out of academy’ status to his advantage…

Ensign Issac Forgrave, Security

Without further encounters, it didn’t take long for the officers to find their way back to the clearing Molly had come from. The Klingons were gone and so were their party hats and sashes. For the first time since Holloway had set foot on the holodeck that night, the jungle actually seemed undisturbed.

The sun shone brightly sitting high in the cloudless blue sky, the birds chirped happily within the trees, and the constant buzz of thousands of tiny little insects set the background. A cool breeze made the place a little more comfortable.

And yet, to make sure the current occupants of the space knew something was going on, there was a lone restaurant booth, complete with a table, sitting in the middle of the space. Both pieces were well worn. The table was made out of solid dark wood and the seats were lined in dark burgundy colored leather.

Pushing one of the seats away from the table, Molly helped Forgrave onto it. It was clear by her expression that the booth setup was not supposed to be there. Now… if only she could remember where the emergency medkit was…

“Ah, Thanks.” Issac sighed with relief upon sitting, and quickly found a position that was less painful on his ribs. As he let himself relax, he could feel the adrenaline slowly leaving his system.

“Computer, arch!” Holloway barked at the space surrounding them, but no luck. Yet again. She sighed. No arch, meant no door, meant no exit. For the first time that evening a thought settled onto her mind. Were they stuck in the holodeck?

“Yeah, first thing I did was try to end the simulation. No such luck, I suppose. Heh, indicator of things to come.” Issac said the last with a wry grin.

Defeated, Molly turned back and sat down on the only other available seat. “At this point I don’t think the holodeck is responding to any commands at all. My guess is that it is processing something and we might just have to give it time. Hopefully it will catch up before Alpha shift starts. I’d hate to have to explain to both Harris and Manning how we ended up here.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “How are you feeling?”

Capt. Holloway, CIO

“Hopefully.” A concerned look came over Issac’s face - “You seem to know this place; we safe here? Need to worry about more of those things sneaking up on us?”

“I’m....” Issac looked off to the side, not willing to admit to his injury. Hell, nothing gained from pride. “Not great, ma’am. Pretty sure I got some broken ribs. Got hit worse than I thought. Not bad just settin’ here, but…” He let the sentence trail off. “Wouldn’t be excited about running right now, that’s for sure.” Issac let out an amused snort at his ‘joke,’ cutting it short with a wince as it jostled his ribs.

There was a worried look in Holloway’s face. She had far more experience with broken ribs than she cared to admit… and from far too early on too. Not to mention, if Forgrave was injured, medical would want to know what happened. Molly sighed before standing and pressing her commbadge.

=/\= Holloway to Transporter Room 1. Transporter Room 1, do you copy? =/\=

But no response came. Holloway groaned in frustration. “I’m really sorry. You should never have been here in the first place…” She paced for a while before sitting down, analyzing their current situation.

Issac took some time to think to himself about the current situation, and what might have lead to it. When he first joined up with the academy, he did a lot of research in his free time regarding some of the current technologies; in particular, he had looked into transporter and replicator tech. He had found that they were extremely reliable, with almost a perfect track record. Statistically, they were safer than doorways; to say the least of stairs. Most tech used on warships had similar reliability records. Including holodecks…
So… Holloway here looks like she’s been up for the past 24 hours; or at least the bags under her eyes say so. It’s damned unlikely that this holodeck malfunctioned ~just because~. We got an intruder alert from a console. No-one else but the Chief was present in the holodeck. Add to that she seems familiar with this program - she knows the area, and the creatures. Hmmm. Theory A: someone buggered with the holodeck; trying to scare or harm the Chief when this program was activated with her as the sole participant. But if I did that, I’d be damn sure to lock out the console, so NO alerts could be sent. And still doesn’t explain her bein’ here all night. Though to be fair, nothing says she was HERE all night. Theory B: Holloway was mucking on the console all night, tripped the alert, and got the computer all fragged up. But why would she be tooling on it? Making a new program? This program don’t seem foreign to her… Hell, what’d she say earlier… eight years… So it probably ain’t that she was making a NEW program… Hmmm.

Issac shifted in the booth, eventually sitting sideways and propping his feet up on the bench, his back in the corner. “Ended up here ‘cause of a Security alert; Intruder, to be specific. Don’t really seem to be the case, ‘less I missed something.” He lazily glanced over at the Chief, gauging her response.

Ensign Issac Forgrave, Security

Molly shook her head. “I have no idea what happened.” For the most part, it was true. “I never intended on sending it out. Actually… I don’t even know how it got sent out in the first place. The Dresden’s main computer should know that I was the only person in the room, as it can identify both my biosigns and my commbadge. My guess is that it merged instructions together and got confused.” It was clear that Holloway’s knowledge of holodeck programing was not the best, to say the least. “All I can say is that I am happy that it wasn’t a ship wide alert or I would be in very hot waters…” She shot the Security officer an embarrassed smile.

So she was at the console… Doing what? “Yeah, computer didn’t register any intruders, least no foreign bio-signs. Still, procedure calls for investigate and follow-up; ‘case a mistake was made somewheres. And the alert just went to the Security console - iffin’ I hadn’t responded, it would’ve jumped up to ship-wide. Granted, you’d-a been responsible fer disturbing your crew-mate’s beauty sleep, but Chief’s been talking about running a drill sometime soon anyways. Ya mighta’ had some luck sweet-talking the XO and getting off light.” Issac Grinned, but held back a chuckle.

“By the way, I realize this is not the best situation, but… you said your name was Forgrave, right?”

Capt. Holloway, CIO

He nodded in reply - “Issac Forgrave, Ensign. Dresden’s my first posting outta academy, actually. Ain’t been here long, few months or so by now.” He paused. “Actually, that may be why I ain’t familiar with this program, actually. I ran through a bunch in training, but never saw anythin’ quite like this. Ya mentioned you’d been…” Issac took a moment, his face lost in thought and lips voicing unheard words in recollection. “Using this program for eight years; this had never happened before.”

Issac turned slightly, from a sideways position on the bench to one facing the Intelligence officer a bit more directly. “Least, think that’s what ya said. When ya were helpin’ me up earlier, I mean. Were those… creatures part of the program? Now, I’m assuming that the computer not listening sure ain’t part of it, nor bein’ stuck here.” A concerned look came over the Ensign’s face as he asked “Come to think of it, had ya been in here long by the time the alert got sent?”

Meanwhile, NE Jo’han was having a bad day. He was notoriously bad at navigation, and knew it; along with the rest of the security team. Which is why he had readily agreed to stay put when Forgrave and he had entered the holodeck. But with the creature’s attack, he had gotten hopelessly lost and turned around. At one point he stumbled across a trail, but he suspected it was just leading him in circles. Once again, he contemplated retirement.

Ensign Issac Forgrave, Security