Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Reia Shandy (C Intelligence -Comm Officer) in Main Sim Tour of the Science Installation

Posted by Lieutenant Tom Jarvis (Internal Security) in Main Sim Tour of the Science Installation

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Dagen Thor (CE) in Main Sim Tour of the Science Installation
Posted by… suppressed (13) by the Post Ghost! 👻
snip
Dagen nodded to Tom. Yeah, giant attacking rodents were important. ‘Sounds like a teenager’ Dagen thought to himself but didn’t voice. Maybe to Reia later .. seismic attacks. Dome that was a sphere to defend from all angles. He peered at the sphere, and a thought came to him. “Why would they bother .. attacking. That word suggests intent. That shield presupposes that you don’t leave food out for them.” By his tone he was inferring they were rather more than rudimentary. Rodents, at least most, would not go into areas where they would put themselves into danger without good reason. He glanced to Reia and Tom. There was more going on than for sure. The question was, was this in any way a danger or problem - Della sounded as if they were an inconvenience - so not a danger, but ethically this could be problematic. Sure these Volians could be just that, an overgrown rodent annoyed at being woken up early, or that of ethics whereby said Volians were more than they seemed and so crossing a line.
- Dagen, CE

Tom shrugged at Dagen’s statement.

“Predators and territorial herbivores and omnivores have been known often to attack things that they have thought were impinging upon their territory, threats to their young, or just because they’re hostile. Consider the vanzar beast of Tranky. They’re huge, entirely herbivorous and feed on large grasses but, if something they deem a threat comes anywhere near them, they immediately charge with the intent to crush it. What they decide is a threat is unknown as they have a tendency to attack almost anything that moves within a certain proximity of them. And when I say large, I mean something that could crush a small cargo transport.”

Tom looked around for a moment.

“Of course if these volumes are nothing more than an animal coming out of hibernation, the attacks might be in an effort to search for an immediate food source as they would probably be very hungry. To really know, we need more information.”

Dagen’s experience with critters was pretty small, or even with big critters. He tipped his head in acknowledgment to Tom, deferring to his greater knowledge. The guy was a walking encyclopedia! His typical largest worry with regard to animals was keeping the little ones from chewing on optical cable or relay connections. With essentially a career in space there wasn’t much room for running into animals.

Tom then looked pointedly at Della.

“I don’t suppose you have any files or documentation on these creatures that you can make immediately available to us would you?”

• Tom, IntSec

Tom and Dagen had basically covered everything Reia was thinking. She had a feeling that Della needed somebody who appeared to be on her side though. Perhaps that would help smooth things and get the information more quickly and with less of a fuss.

“This does seem like quite the little situation you have here. While I can understand you not including it in your briefing to us, or any shift that came before us, we really wish you had. I have only one question, how far back in your history do these attacks as you call them go?”

• Reia, CIO/Comms

Point noted there too. Some history would be useful and how did they come about to being so near to an installation? Still, it was better than say Gorn raining down fire from on high. Their fancy cloak wouldn’t be much good with them either, Dagen mused. These big moles would likely be operating from vibrations in the earth or smell or other senses rather than sight.
- Dagen

=/\=Gen..sis and …way teams, please return …palace .... let …drill proceed unencumber… our presence.=/\= Came through their comm badges. It was the Captain’s voice but highly static-filled. Luckily there was enough information to indicate what the Captain wanted.

Dagen listened intently to the message. It was broken up but seemed to be pretty clear. “Recalled to the palace,” he said, summing up the message.

Della let out a deep breath and signaled for a few of her people to approach. “I am sorry but communications between anyone other than our military and chief science officials have been terminated. You are safe,” she spoke as if they were small children scared by a storm. “I can have someone bring you the information you seek but it is of little matter. The Volians will attack the designated areas of the cities not under the shielding and when they are satiated they will retreat to the ground.”

“You mean to say that an order from the captain is to be ignored? It may have come from your superiors,” he cautioned, while inside being irked. He wasn’t afraid of these creatures - it was hard to be afraid of that which they knew so little of. Della was not concerned. More annoyed and inconvenienced and unconcerned. “How are areas designated? And what do they eat?” While the practical mind of his considered that they put out food for them where they could eat it and then go, he was concerned at there being an attack on what was not shielded of the cities. Why not move food elsewhere? Or protect the cities?

“You asked earlier about our history with them. It goes back to the ancient times. We are now in a symbiosis with them. They Harvest and then we are left alone for another year. It is the way of things.”

GM Kate

“You make it sound as though they are the dominant group on the planet,” he commented. While he knew there were forces of nature such as insect cycles and the like that ravaged whole areas and were let to do so, this seemed to be something that directly affected the populace. Symbiosis?
- Dagen, CE

Reia had a sense that Della would not appreciate the Volians being called the dominant group on the planet. She however thought it was a brilliant maneuver, or messed up of words. She would also rather be back with the Captain, Della’s company was getting as large as her presence.

• Reia, CIO/Comms

“In the past, we just tried to fight them off,” Della began to speak in a highly clinical tone as if this was a science experiment. She was aloof and detached proving she was more irritated than concerned as she explained. There was no way the Beltrans were going to be able to brush this away. The Federation was nosy. Now that they learned there were more cities and about the Volians it was better just to tell them. They were scientists after all. They would understand the need for the actions being taken.

“When we actively engaged in conflict with the Volian’s we lost important people. Scientists, doctors, scholars, artisans, politicians,” she listed off a slew of professions. “How was our society expected to grow and evolve unless we came to an agreement. We allow them to Harvest a percentage,” she paused and added, “a controlled and tactically selected percentage of the populace once a year. This is why the shielding is so important,” Della now showed the blindsided hubris of science. “It allows us to focus on science instead of war.”

GM Kate

Dagen frowned, noticeably, and strove to not react in his response. About to say something Reia stepped in.

“Well, I certainly thank you for your brutal and clinical honesty. Such things are appreciated among the species of the Federation. I’m certain you, being an intelligent member of your species, must understand that not all people view things the way that you do. I’m not making a judgment, just explaining a situation.”

Reia had the distinct sense this might not end well but that was not her place to discuss, at this time, with Della.

• Reia, CIO/Comms

Tom do that this was one of those cultural differences that wasn’t going to sit well with starfleet. The seasonal sacrificing of a percentage of the population to appease creatures when they woke up for a feeding cycle just wasn’t going to go over well with the brass.

• Tom, IntSec

“That is not a symbiosis. That is .. just not,” Dagen said. “A symbiosis is for mutual benefit. I am part of that. I live that. My name is Dagen Thor. Dagen is my name. Thor belongs to my symbiot. Are there not indigenous herds to divert them to? Ways to insert an artificial food rather than sacrifice what could become a prominent scientist, doctor, scholar, artisan, or politician? Surely there is a better way.” They were, to Dagen, moving in the path of convenience, denoting an expendable underclass of their citizenry. That in any history had never ended well.
- Dagen, CE

“Well obviously we have tried that,” Della stated, her voice thick with disgust and irritation. She rolled her eyes and used her height to look down on them as if they were small children who did not understand a simple concept. “How does one fend off an enemy that swarms by the thousands and attacks like a wave on the sea engulfing one in a second? Would you prefer we kill all of them off? Trust me we have tried to find other viable hosts but the Volian’s reject it. Evolution has preselected out race as compatible with theirs. Over the millennia they evolved from smaller hosts to larger ones. Larger hosts allowed for larger Volians. Now if we present them with alternative hosts, which we have, the Volian young don’t survive the birth or starve to death after. So as you can see…it is a symbiosis.” Della seemed far more concerned about proving her scientific point than indicating that they were essentially sentencing anyone to death who was ill or a felon by opening up the prisons and hospitals.

Things were slowly dawning on Dagen and the prospects of this was horrifying. They sentenced others of their kind to death so that the Volians who were the enemy would live? “So these Volians inhabit your people and feed on them. Your people die and these Volians who you call an enemy live?” If that was true this wasn’t a symbiosis; they were parasites that matured inside these people. About to say that he was interrupted by the technician .. but .. why would they care for the Volians to even live? What benefit did they get from the Volians’ survival?

Della knew she would waste precious time talking. Instead, she brought up old military footage and gestured them closer to a screen.

On the screen was an image of a carnivore but instead of the typical apex predator, this creature looked like rat that was the size of a large house cat. The animal had short sleek fur that was so shiny it appeared almost leathery like one saw on a dolphin. The eyes were larger for its body but also tracked with a subterranean, nocturnal creature. The creature’s distinguishing weapons appeared to be extremely long teeth and claws. The schematic stated 46 cm (18 in) in head-to-body length and 23–25 cm (9.1–9.8 in) in height, with about 30 cm (12 in) long tails and about 4-5 kg (8-10) pounds.

Cute, Dagen thought. Smaller than a Sehlat. Bit like a military grade mole.

The next image Della showed them was a video clip of the last attack. It would become very apparent why the Beltrans were suddenly very concerned about an animal this tiny. At first glance, it looked like a bubble of mud percolating up from the ground. When one looked closer they would see it was not mud spreading out in a vibrating pool but hundreds of Volians. The sheer quantity coming through the opening was staggering. As the video panned out, the dozen of holes in the ground poured forth the same amount until the entire ground was covered and looked to me moving in a thick mat of squirming wiggling bodies. The camera panned back farther to see how the Volian’s attacked. Like some B flick horror movie from Earth’s past, the Volian’s washed over a person like a wave at the ocean. If one had ever seen the Earth horror flick the Mummy the scene would remind them of the carnivorous beetles decimating the hapless workers with their bodies creating a silhouette of the shape and then reducing it down to nothing before moving on. The speed and vast numbers of the creatures was the real threat. The Volian’s were a horde when they attacked making even the best marksman ineffective in staving off an offense.

That was no symbiosis. That was a buffet. That was a symbiosis in the same way that a zebra was in a symbiotic relationship with a lion. He winced as he watched the creatures swarm over their .. meal. How could they possibly feed that many?

Della pointed to a small area with her finger indicating she wanted the group to focus on there. It was just a box however as the mass horde of Volian’s moved forward, a small distortion on the screen followed by a glimpse of blue skin was visible.

He squinted to see the distortion.

“The Volian’s can’t attack what they can’t see.” As the area cleared slightly, several more distortions were noticeable. It was easily inferred that the camera angles in the video clip were taken by soldiers filming the event from a cloaked position.

His eyes flickered from one to the other. This was a craven science experiment by any standard, like ancient peoples being thrown to the lions in gladiator games only in this case they were broadcasting it.

“Those behind the shielding are essentially invisible and if one remains still enough and quiet enough, the horde of Volian’s move on to another food and resource source.” Della had the neutral tone of a general explaining the course of a battle to others.

“Some claim the Volian’s are sentient and intelligent creatures.” She scoffed at the idea. “While they do display some rudimentary form of intelligence, we in the science community feel it is no more than that of a basic animal. Millenia ago they were as small as a basic mouse however evolution is fascinating. They began to eat larger animals which allowed them to grow larger with their hosts. Over time the Volians ate just about every natural large animal on the planet aside from us. Essentially they outgrew their food source. We have already abandoned the other two continents on the other side of the planet. We refuse to allow them to take over this continent.”

“What do they do when their food source is gone?” Dagen asked. How did this mass of creatures sustain themselves? The rumbling and shaking was unnerving but Dagen was trying to focus. Surely there had to be a way. The people here did what was expedient but, ultimately, even according to them, not sustainable. It was feeding Gremlins after midnight. He glanced to Reia; that was another of her introduction to old Earth holos.

“Ma’am,” a technician yelled out, “we are tracking a potential problem. The Genesis crew would see a series of underground tunnels under certain spots without sheilding which could reasonably be assumed were the hospitals and prisons she spoke of as being the sacrificed spots for the Beltrans. Touching the screen he pointed out a new tunnels seemed to be forming without any predictability.” Tracing his finger along the screen, it could reasonably be assumed that something was causing the Volians to spread out in all directions by the appearance of newly created tunnels everywhere. Several of these tunnel branches seemed to be approaching the military, science, and capital city. It could also be inferred that the seismic tremors were increasing in strength as the tunnels neared the military installation.

“No no no no,” Della stated. “They should not be doing this. They should be using their own typical paths and not venturing into new ones.” The ground shook hard enough that if one was not prepared for it, one might fall over.

“How do they sense where to go to feed?” Dagen asked. The only ‘new’ parameter in this equation was that there were Starfleet people in each of those locations. But if these were ‘shielded’ then what was the problem? Della said shielded areas were safe. Unless they weren’t and relied on distraction of the Volians to the usual feeding grounds.

“Ma’am without the military we should start evacuations from this facility. If the Volian’s arrive we will not be able to hold them off.”

GM Kate

Dagen

“They should not know where we are,” Della seemed to care more about why the tech was failing versus their impending disaster.

“I told you there was a risk deploying the shielding underground,” a scientist at another station snapped. “Even though it was small there is a vibration to the shielding when powered on. That harmonic could have been a enough traveling into the rock to make any place of it was deployed an X on the map. You have killed us.” As if to punctuate the words the walls and floors seemed to shake as if ready to tumble down.

Dagen pursed his lips. They needed time. He was sure he could do something with those ‘harmonics’ but he didn’t know how long they had. And how do they get past shielding anyway? He looked at the scientist and said as much to him as to Della in as distinct a tone as he could. “Seal off as much of the perimeter as you can. Shut down the shield and any unnecessary power. Message everyone to be still and not move. You showed us they won’t go after what they can’t see and sense. Otherwise this is going to be a flight of panic that will only end in a slaughter.” Or would be a stampede of those closest to the shuttle or shuttles.

Della looked up finally sensing the seriousness of the situation fully. “We need to get to the shuttle we took to come here,” she said to Dagen in almost a whisper. The whispered direction was explained by the math. There was only about 10 seats on the shuttle. There had to be over a thousand people in the facility.

GM Kate

And leave a hundred times that at least to die. That was math that Dagen could not allow. Their dedication to culling their own population could not continue.

Reia had been mostly quiet during this exchange but, she had quickly deduced where this situation was going. Standing quickly she glanced around and decided on her next actions.

“I think your friends, yeah, I use the term loosely, are looking for some more intelligent things to sustain them. Perhaps you should have opened your scientific centers of learning and not your hospitals and prisons. I’m not going to let my companions die just because you don’t know how to manage your problems. We’re out of here people. I don’t care if they come with us or not.”

Reia had given an order. People could complain about it later if they chose to. She didn’t give a damn about rank, propriety, or anything else of the like. If she couldn’t run fast enough she would simply jump on her mates back. She was not going to die for them.

• Reia, Intel/Comms

GM Kate

“You’re doing it again!” Dagen said to Della. He was feeling livid too. Reia was even more so and looked toward Tom to see where he was. To say he was frustrated and wanted to get out with them was a real feeling, but was not yet an option. There had to be another way “You cull your people by taking out those you deem unworthy and believing you are bettering your people. But where does it end? Now, faced with trouble, you want to do it again, but sacrifice your own colleagues?!” He looked at Reia. “Not yet,” he said quietly, as if in the tone to either give hem a chance to overcome or for he, Reia and Tom to help and show them the better way. But he was not stupid enough to not leave out the chance of fleeing. Not yet.

He said to Reia, holding her gaze. “We need a safe room for us and this group here if need be. It may be the shuttle in the end but if all it takes is us being quiet .. surely they can’t gnaw through steel.” He looked intently at her. “We can’t give up yet. Where are these creatures now? We need to know.”

“Tom, can you help seal off the outer areas of this facility? Limit their routes. Layered protection. Get the people out of the perimeter of the base and inside to as sturdy a place as possible and be quiet.”

He looked at Della and the scientist. “Shut down the shielding. Make that announcement to shelter in place and be still. Della, is there a way of creating a .. diversion, a similar set of vibrations elsewhere even if it is not far from here? Even if it is using the shuttle to do it, to lead them.”
Dagen, XO

Dagen’s simple ‘not yet’ cut through Reia’s bluster. She meant every word she said, but she was a Starfleet officer and that had to come first. She would certainly leave them in the dust if it came to that. If this went on her record perhaps she would be seeing the counselor for several seconds. Perhaps the word insubordination would even be whispered, she did not outrank her husband or Tom for that matter and she had just almost given a direct order. Such a thing may or may not be overlooked. She took a deep calming breath. Glaring at Della she nodded to Dagen and tried to regain her control.

Dagen felt for Reia. He could see the subtle stresslines on her face as she fought for control. While Dagen wore his heart on his sleeve, as others had told him, Reia was different. She had an impulsive side that took charge and wanted ‘it’ done, whatever it was, whether it was simply doing proactively something simple about their cabin, or this. She was not wrong. This was serious. Their lives were at risk. But so were a thousand others and one shuttle was not going to do it. Transporters were not working. And they severed communications - something utterly bizarre to Dagen. He focused on Reia. Dagen wanted to make some contact with her but it was not the time. Slowly she pulled herself together and he nodded with her. Dagen wanted to let out a breath in relief.

“Agreed commander. What do you need me to be doing?”

Clearly she and Dagen needed to discuss how to work together professionally in a situation like this. It would be much easier if this were some type of covert op. Reia had to work though this was an entirely different situation.

• Reia, CIO/Comms

Dagen looked at the first scientist who had suggested evacuating. “Where would we evacuate to?” he asked.

To Reia he said, “We need information and you’re good at that. How long do we have till they arrive? Are there prepared spaces in this facility where people can go to and shelter in place quietly. How would they get in? Can we turn this room into a secure place where they can’t get into? What have they done in the past to be safe from them, apart from the obvious of throwing their own to the lions.” Dagen knew that somewhere in Reia there were some odd diplomatic bones, but she was better at wrestling information out of people and systems than sweet talking. He appreciated both the sweet talking and the wrestling, er, in other contexts. Hopefully they would still enjoy more of them in days to come.
- Dagen, CE

Tom had taken off his belt and had the buckle open and was adjusting something inside, after several moments he turned to Dagen holding the belt out to him with the buckle open. Dagen would recognize this as a more updated version of the experimental EVA shield belts from the late 2200s.

“I’ve disconnected the anti-gravity module and adjusted the power configuration, it can currently shield a small group of people, maybe no more than 12, standing body to body, for about 6 hours under light duty. If put under heavy stress, it’ll probably only last 20 minutes. Of course the smaller the shielding area, the longer it’ll last but, that’ll mean fewer people protected by it, not that we can protect that many in the first place. You being an engineer, you could probably improve on that.”

• Tom, IntSec

Reia had listened intently to Dagen as she made her way towards the scientist he had indicated. She had heard Tom speaking also, his words would sink in and probably mean something important later. He was right, sweet talk and diplomacy could go hand in hand. This was not the time for sweet talk but, choosing her words carefully was important. Stepping up to the woman she attempted to look her in the eye. Height, why the hell couldn’t she have gotten a gene for height?

“All right, we don’t have time for any formalities. If you don’t want to become food you need to be my friend and I definitely need to become yours. Let’s get to work on solving this problem. I need to know everything you can tell me about your little friends out there. I also need to know everything you can tell me about this room. Let’s start with plans for this facility. Get me schematics as detailed as you can.”

• Reia, CIO/Comms

Della stared at the belt Tom presented with a scientific fascination. The Beltran’s had always struggled with movement and their shielding. If they could combine them they could probably exterminate the Volians by finally being on the offense. “I am not sure what else to tell you about the vermin. They swarm, they feast, they retract some to harvest their young in. It’s that simple. It is an animal attack that we can not defend against. We do have some areas that are secured safe rooms but that is only for emergencies and for only about 10% of the staff and 10% of those in the lottery.”

Looking at the group, she stated, “we are not monsters that only let the privileged or elite survive. Everyone in the world has the right to enjoy life so we created, a coupon day which is essentially our lottery. We didn’t want just the best and brightest to live. We need those with general life skills too. Half of those in the Palace were the lottery winners. They will be protected along with the King and your people.”

The room shook violently and the lights flickered as the viewports showed the first wave of Volians pouring out of the ground as the began to overrun the facility. It visually looked like a fuzzy tsunami engulfing everything in it’s path. Slower Beltran’s were sucked under and seemed to disappear. If the Genesis group watched closely and did not start running for their life, they would notice that small depressions in the ground reminded one of quicksand. It was not under every person that was swarmed but quite a few. It could be surmised that this was a way the Volians took the hosts underground.

If anyone had focused their sense of listening, the would also notice a small rhythmic humming coming from the mass of brown bodies moving towards the complex. It would remind one of a dull white noise, like at a cocktail party where one could hear talking but not be able to isolate individual words necessarily.

GM Kate.