Posted by Gamemaster Emily S. (Gamemaster) in Main Sim: Bridge

Posted by Commander Balfor Kolar (XO/CSO) in Main Sim: Bridge

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Llakar Harel (Chief of Operations) in Main Sim: Bridge
Posted by… suppressed (10) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>

“See to it, Harel. Does our current course take us through either of those sectors/”

Captain Daniel “DaVinci” Colter
CO USS Saracen

Goodspeed snapped to attention with a newfound confidence. “Yes sir! We won’t let you down Captain,” he said proudly with a cheesy grin as he tapped a few buttons on the console to bring up their flight plan and took a moment to study it. “No sir, our current flight path doesn’t take us through either sector…” he began as a message flashed up on the screen from Commander Greenway. Curiously he tapped the message.

=========================
Commander Elia Greenway to USS Saracen

We have detected enemy activity in sector 13 along your current flight path, please alter course to 227-mark-59 for your approach to avoid confrontation.

Authorisation code Charlie-bravo-5983-echo-976

Commander Elia Greenway

=========================

Goodspeed frowned at the message. “Actually sir, that new flight plan does now take us through sector thirty three…” he mused. Something felt off to him but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He had scanned the area extensively and had not picked up any activity from any vessel, enemy or friendly. He slowly broke into a sweat, wondering if he had missed something in his scans. “Should we plot a new course sir?” He asked tentatively.

• GM

DaVinci thought quietly to himself for a few moments. The CO felt something itching at the back of his mind as well. He took into consideration all the information Harel and Goodspeed had told him. There was also something that didn’t sit right with that authorization code. It was there, but he couldn’t quite grab it . . . .

“Something is off, gentlemen. Your thoughts?”

Colter listened to his crews input, then made his decision. . . . .

“Yes, plot a new course. I want whoever suggested the new course to think we made the change. My gut is telling me that Cmdr. Greenway isn’t behind the course chane..”

“Helm, follow the new course, but gradually drift back to the original so that we do pass through sector 13. Let’s see if anybody has a problem with this change.”

Captain Daniel “DaVinci” Colter
CO USS Saracen

Before the course change could be made, a Federation came into range and the comms crackled to life.

=^= Shuttlecraft Volga to USS Saracen, this is Commander Neda from Javor IV, request permission to dock, we require urgent assistance and medical attention…=^= he requested, hoping they were in range. He gritted his teeth as another wave of pain shot through his temple. =^=…please, help us…=^= he added with slurred speech as he passed out.

• GM

DaVinci received confirmation that the shuttle was indeed the Volga, and in pretty poor shape.

=^=Shuttlecraft Volga, this Capt. Colter of the Saracen. We’ve locked our tractor beam on you. Medical personnel are standing by.=^=

=^= Thank you Captain, this is Lt Chatten, we have two casualties, Ensign Hillard is in critical condition and Commander Neda has suffered a significant head injury and is unconscious, we are very grateful for your help, I fear we have a lot to discuss. =^= Chatten added as he wearily closed his eyes and waited for the tractor beam to guide them in.

=^=Sickbay, I need an emergency medical team in the shuttlebay, stat!=^=

“Balfor, you have the bridge. Hudson, with me. And get a damage control team to the bay, also”
Captain Daniel “DaVinci” Colter
CO USS Saracen
“Aye Aye Sir,’ Balfor said taking the conn

Harel remained at the Ops station as the captain and Hudson departed the bridge. The faint whine of the turbolift doors closing behind them barely registered—his attention was fixed on the data scrolling across his display.

Sector thirty-three. A masking anomaly. And now, a new course that happened to cut through it.

That wasn’t coincidence. Or if it was, it was an elegant one. Too elegant.

His fingers moved quickly, discretely tagging the new course path with a passive subspace telemetry sweep—nothing active enough to trip an alert, just enough to build a silent baseline. If there was something waiting in that sector, it wouldn’t stay hidden for long.

“Ensign Goodspeed,” Harel said quietly, without looking up, “Run your staggered sweep as planned. No active pinging. Low-profile filters only. Flag any fluctuations in particle density or reflected harmonics.”

Goodspeed nodded and his fingers began to dance over the console to start his scans.

There was no urgency in his tone, no overt tension. Just the same calm precision he always carried. But behind it, something sharpened.

Something was off. And he didn’t intend to miss it.

Lt. Commander Harel ○●●
Chief of Operations
U.S.S. Saracen

Goodspeed paused and looked back at Harel. “Sir?” He asked tentatively. “What do you think is out there?” He asked with nervous anticipation.

• GM

Harel didn’t answer right away.

His eyes stayed fixed on the sensor data, watching the telemetry feeds unfold in slow, deliberate lines. Sector thirty-three. The numbers were steady—for now—but there was a pressure building behind them. Something waiting for shape. Or name.

He’d seen this kind of quiet before. Not in the readings, but in the stillness between events. Turkana IV, the Orion freighter, the Leviathan anomaly—each one had started with a lull. A breath held too long. A system that should have behaved, echoing something it wasn’t.

“Nothing good,” he said finally—calm, not ominous. Just honest.

He leaned forward slightly, fingers adjusting one of the scan filters by a fraction of a degree.

“But that doesn’t mean we won’t be ready for it.”

A pause. Then, more quietly:

“Whatever’s out there… it isn’t the first thing that’s tried to come out of the dark. And it won’t be the last.”

He glanced toward Goodspeed, just briefly. Not with alarm. Not with fear. But with the sober clarity of someone who had outlived every moment he should not have.

Harry gulped and nodded, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.

“Keep scanning. Eyes open. That’s how we start.”

Then he turned back to his console, the calm returned. But his posture had shifted, just slightly—centered, grounded. Like someone bracing for something they couldn’t yet see.

Lt. Commander Llakar Harel ●○●

Lt. Commander Harel ○●●
Chief of Operations
U.S.S. Saracen

Balfor XO

Goodspeed diligently began going through every inch of his scan data, hoping something would jump out at him. Whoever had masked the signal had been extremely thorough. Had he not have been trying to redeem his earlier blunder, they may have missed it altogether. Narrowing and intensifying the scan area he focussed on sector 33. Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to redirect them through that sector and there had to be a reason. He nervously chewed on his lip as he began to go through the data with a fine tooth comb.

After what felt like an eternity, Goodspeed let out an excited squeak as he peered intently at the screen. “Lt Commander Harel, I think I’ve found something…” he said, beckoning Harel to his screen.

Checking his data again, Harry nodded to himself. “Right there sir, I’ve narrowed the scan field and increased the intensity and I noticed something at these coordinates,” he replied, jabbing a finger at the console. “It was only a momentary fluctuation in readings but it originated from here…at least…I think it did…” he added, starting to second guess himself.

• GM

Harel rose from his seat with unhurried precision, stepping around to stand beside Goodspeed’s station.

He didn’t immediately look at the coordinates the ensign was indicating—instead, he watched the younger man’s posture, the edge of doubt creeping into his voice.

“You saw something,” Harel said evenly, more statement than question. “Don’t discard it because it doesn’t shout loud enough to be obvious. The first sign of trouble rarely does.”

Only then did he turn his attention to the display, eyes narrowing slightly as the filtered readings scrolled past. A brief flicker in the data, subtle enough to vanish if you weren’t looking for it—if you didn’t know to look.

His hands moved to the auxiliary controls, copying the coordinates into the Ops console’s log and flagging them for silent, continuous monitoring. No active pings. No changes that would announce their interest.

“We’ll keep eyes on this,” he said quietly, straightening again. “If it repeats—even for a fraction of a second—I want it caught, logged, and cross-checked against every other fluctuation we’ve recorded in sector thirty-three.”

He turned toward the center of the bridge. “Commander Balfor—Ops has detected a possible fluctuation in the masking field we flagged earlier. We’ve isolated coordinates for quiet monitoring and will report immediately on any repeat activity.”

A glance toward Goodspeed, measured but certain.

“You were right to flag it. Now let’s see if it’s willing to show itself twice.”

Lt. Commander Harel ○●●
Chief of Operations
U.S.S. Saracen