Posted by Commander Akorem Nevin (Executive Officer) in Main Sim - Vaila Command Centre

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Peter Sigmundsson (Chief Intelligence Officer) in Main Sim - Vaila Command Centre

Posted by Gamemaster Maniacal Mother Hen (GM) in Main Sim - Vaila Command Centre
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻

“We’ll take the stairs next time,” Nevin remarked, “Where are we?”

Nevin looked around the room.

-Akorem

Peter moved to the nearest wall console and tapped in the command code to show their current location. He was pissed, in fact so pissed he hit the console with too much force the first time. He’d had enough of malfunctioning computers trying to kill him. He stroked over his chest to see if his trusty twin blades were still there. Knifes don’t malfunction or declare themselves overlords of the universe, no knives are simple, elegant can be good substitues for company.

CIO

Nevin had lost his bearings and had no idea which way they should head. The only thing he was certain was that they couldn’t trust the colony’s intelligence engine.

=/\=Akorem to Viking. Can you download a schematic of the colony to my tricorder without routing through the Colony’s network,=/\= he asked.

-Akorem

As they looked around, they noticed a sign down the corridor which told them they were in the residential sector, half a kilometer away from where they had been aiming for. A startled young Ensign looked at them blankly as they barrelled out of the turbolift looking lost. “Um, can I help you sir?” he asked Nevin.

Mother Hen

“We’re trying to get to the Command Centre,” Nevin replied, “Preferably without using the turbolift.”

-Akorem

The Ensign gave them a quizzical look wondering how they had ended up in crew quarters. “It’s about 5 minutes in that direction if you take the stairs,” he replied as he looked down the long corridor which led back towards the main hub of the colony. “Would you like me to show you the way?” he asked as he noticed young Ensign Cartwright whimpering against the bulkhead.

Mother Hen

“Yes please,” Nevin said, “And you may want to stick an out of order notice on the turbolift. It didn’t give us the most friendly of rides.”

-Akorem

Peter frowned at Cartwright before turning back to Commander Akorem “I suggest that once in the Command Centre, all turbolift access be closed until we discover what just happened” He said to the Commander but loud enough so the group could hear “This plus the terrified woman earlier and the general state of this place…” He paused and looked around “Frankly it’s like a bad day on the Viking”

CIO

“I was going to suggest an out of order sign on there,” Nevin agreed.

-Akorem

The young ensign nodded and replied, “of course sir,” as he quickly tapped a code into the turbolift to shut it down and disconnect from the turbolift network. “Please follow me,” he added as he grabbed Cartwright by the arm and yanked him in front. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked in a hushed but irritated whisper. “Our first visitors and you’re acting like a nutjob!” he added with a scowl as Cartwright sheepishly gulped and took the lead.

It was a short walk, especially given the haste of the away team who were clearly keen to get to their destination. As they climbed the final flight of stairs, the doors parted to reveal the somewhat chaotic command centre of the colony.

A Vulcan science office stood jabbing controls at a console, almost with an air of annoyance about him as a Bolian Lt worked beside him on what appeared to be some kind of weather display. On the screen in front of them were the diagnostics of a malfunction weather station and a host of warning messages flashing. The command centre had the usual bustle of a busy operations centre but there was an air of anxiety palpable in the room as officers scurried back and forth the consoles which were lit up light a Christmas tree.

A haggered looking Admiral was leant against a console to the right, looking dismayed as the Chief Engineer shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. He spotted the away team enter and dismissed the befuddled engineer as he came across to welcome them. He quickly wiped a sweaty hand on his tunic before extending it to Nevin. “You must be Commander Nevin,” he concluded from the pips on his collar. “Thank you for joining us, apologies it’s a bit chaotic here. I hear you had a bit of trouble getting here?” he asked as he led them towards his office.

Mother Hen

Peter followed behind the Commander but said nothing. There was a slight nudge in the back of his mind to make some witty or sarcastic comment, a reflex from days gone by. He suppressed the urge and instead grunted quietly, more for the team than for the Admiral. Crossing his massive arms he gave the room a good look around.

CIO

“Commander Akorem,” Nevin answered, subtly correcting the Admiral’s mis-use of his given name. Nevin found it quite common in Starfleet, but had himself been guilty of the same error before he got his head around the human way of given name before family name.

“Seems like we picked quite a day,” Nevin said as they headed towards the Admiral’s office. Once the door had closed behind the team and the Admiral’s command staff were out of earshot Nevin continued.

“The Viking’s crew are at your disposal should you need any assistance,” he offered.

-Akorem

The weary Admiral nodded, “apologies Commander Akorem, it’s been a long day,” he said apologetically and took his seat with a deep sigh. “Thank you for your assistance, this has been a very trying time for my crew and I have a nasty feeling that it’s far from over…” he mused as he brought up the reports from the last week on a PaDD and handed them to Akorem. Allowing himself a moment to collect his thoughts, Aldridge sighed again and stifled a quick yawn, he couldn’t even remember the last time he slept properly.

Aldridge stood and slowly walked across to the window looking out into the main command centre as he spoke. “As you can see, we have found no evidence of an intruder, our perimeter has not been breached as far as we can tell which leads me to one terrifying conclusion…” he mused as he looked out over the bustling command centre. “…one of my people may be responsible…” he added, almost in a whisper as he turned back to face Akorem. “I don’t know who I can trust?” he stated as he shrugged his shoulders.

Taking another moment he came back to the group and leaned against his desk. “Commander, I need the Viking to take over the investigation,” he concluded with a bitter resignation. “I will order my crew to comply with you fully but you will meet some resistance. This has been a labour of love for many of my staff, a lot of them were instrumental in getting this colony up and running and some may not relinquish control easily…” he paused as he looked back through the window. “But I see no other alternative…” he said solemnly.

Mother Hen

Peter looked between the admiral and the Commander “Has there been any empirical evidence gathered during the courses of the investigations?” He asked already knowing the answer.

CIO

Aldridge sighed and shook his head. “None really, just the accounts from Captain Ries and Lt Lazoh, neither of which make a lot of sense. They both reported seeing and hearing our deceased engineer Lt Cal Malia but the scanner logs show no signs of intruders and there were no transporter signals detected. The week preceeding his death, the Captain reported several occasions where he had seen his deceased friend but the counselor put it down to stress surrounding Lt Malia’s death.” The Admiral paused as he took a deep sigh. “Lt Malia committed suicide 10 days ago…” he added, almost in a whisper. “…at least, we think he did…” Aldridge added carefully with a solemn grimace. It had only just occurred to him that perhaps there was more to the young engineer’s death than they had initially thought.

Nevin could feel for the man. It was not good to know who to trust and who not to. Nevin nhad been caught on the wrong side of that situation himself in his past.

“This data? Was this established from the raw log data or analysed by your intelligence engine. Nevin’s recent experience in the turbolift had left him wary of the colony’s IE.

-Nevin

As the Admiral was about to speak, the door chime buzzed and he held up a hand to cease the conversation, wary of any of his staff overhearing. He rose to his feet and went over to the door, opening it to reveal Luna & Jacquard. He beckoned Luna in to join the rest of the team but put a gentle hand on Jacquard’s shoulder as he attempted to follow. “Thank you Lt Cmdr, that will be all,” he added firmly, despite Jacquard’s confused look. Jacquard opened his mouth to protest but as he saw the steely gaze from him commanding officer he backed down. Aldridge took a quick look around the command centre and noticed that the Captain’s away team had not appeared yet. He quickly pulled up a transporter log which showed they had beamed over but not arrived in the command centre. He curtly passed the PaDD to Jacquard and stepped back inside his office. “It seems the transporter has deposited Captain Ravenfall’s team somewhere in the colony, perhaps you should go and retrieve them?” he suggested as the doors slid closed on Jacquard.

Aldridge retook his seat and smiled at Luna. “Welcome Ensign,” he said warmly as she came to join them, then turned back to Nevin. “That’s all the information we have gathered, raw files and sensor logs,” he replied as he wearily rubbed the back of his stiff neck.

Mother Hen