Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Stella Gagnon (Communications Officer) in Main Sim - Bridge

Posted by Gamemaster Nosferatu (Gamemaster) in Main Sim - Bridge

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Stella Gagnon (Communications Officer) in Main Sim - Bridge
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
[Snip]
The young Ensign at the helm finished plotting a course through the Caradthian Expanse, threading the most stable and efficient route he could coax out of the sector’s notoriously hostile terrain. Redmist plasma banks drifted like slow storms across the holographic display, gravitational shelves curved unpredictably, and cosmic-string fragments pulsed with their own erratic rhythm. Still, his console finally chimed in confirmation—the path was set.

He glanced up as the turbolift doors parted.

The Chief of Security stepped out with the effortless, predatory grace characteristic of her Caitian heritage—shoulders aligned, tail counterbalancing each stride, tufted ears angled forward in quiet appraisal of the bridge. A faint, low trill of acknowledgment escaped her as she passed the conn, not quite a greeting but unmistakably her version of approval.

M’Mera moved directly to the standing Security/Tactical station behind the captain’s chair.

The junior Ensign there shifted aside. She took his place fluidly, claws clicking lightly against the interface as she pulled up the tactical overlays and ran her initial checks. Her whiskers angled forward—a subtle Caitian indicator of growing focus—as the first scan layers began to populate her display.

Deep amber light from the tactical displays reflected off her whiskers as she refined the scans—subspace density maps, micro-distortion flows, and the faint chroniton pitting known to occur near the Vey’lan boundary. Her fingers skimmed the controls, expanding the scan field around their projected entry vector.

The Caradthian Expanse responded with its usual indifference: restless readings, a pulse of static like something breathing beneath the haze, and the occasional flicker along the cosmic-string lattice that rippled through helm’s plotted course.

“Ssecurrity ssweep online,” M’Mera reported calmly as the first layers of data stabilized. “Monitorirng forr unexpected activity along ourr ingrresss corrridorr.”

The helm officer nodded without looking away, making a small correction based on her feed. The corridor narrowed, then held.

A familiar pre-mission quiet settled over the bridge—the hum of consoles, the steady vibration of the Merrimack’s impulse engines, and the subtle impression that the ship herself was leaning forward, bracing for whatever lay beyond the Expanse’s shifting veil.

The Caradthian haze shimmered ahead, unreadable as ever.

But the crew was aligning—helm, security, operations—each department adding its piece as the Merrimack approached a threshold no Starfleet vessel crossed without consequence.

And yet, as always, they moved toward it anyway.

At the science station, Elyss was watching all the information feeding into her terminal. She and her department were aware of the cosmic strings that had been detected, but they weren’t a problem, yet. The torpedos that had been prepared to gather information and to help map the inside of the Caradthian Expanse, were loaded and ready to launch, all she needed was for the Captain to give the order.

“Lt. Zavey, you may launch the science probes when ready,” Captain Glen told his new CSO.

Getting the go ahead, Elyss’ fingers danced over her console. “Aye, Sir.” With the touch of a few buttons, all 12 of the probes left the Merrimack to begin diagnosing the Caradthian Expanse. Information began coming in to the lab on deck 9 and also to Zavey’s console. She kept her eyes on the readouts so she woul be able to notify the Bridge of important information.

As always Cross stepped on the bridge ,she stood about two meter away from the Captain’s chair.The CMO spoke to now one , her eyes were fixed on the view screen as the ship was about to enter the Caradthian Expanse .

Steady as she goes.

Stella sat at her station just watching everyone go about their jobs as she listened to the vastness of space. She saw the Docter out of the corner of her eye and was about to speak to her but did not. She looked so tense. Captain Glenn did as well. Insofar as she could tell no one was in any great danger. , but still she decided to keep quiet. Maybe there was something lurking only a stone’s throw away. She listened on her headset to the regular squeals and vibrating pulses of radio waves put off by such places as this.

As Stella Gagnon listened on her headset the Expanse whispered through her filters. The displays around her glowed a deep amber—reflections catching the curves of her face.

At first it was only the usual background hiss, the soft subspace static that most Communication Officers learned to tune out then it changed—subtle crackles that flickered like distant ice fracturing. Once she isolated one strand and narrowed the band it came clearer.

There.
A low gravitic pulse rolled through the channel, slow and deliberate, like the thrum of a heartbeat buried under kilometers of stone. The cosmic-string lattice was moving again.
The noise deepened. Oscillations rose and fell in a rhythm that wasn’t quite mechanical, but far too steady to be random. A faint modulation slipped through the static—breath-like, almost organic—before dissolving back into the haze. Repeating every 9.2 seconds.

Another flare cracked softly through the speaker—an EM spike from the Redmist Shoals, sharp.
All this wasn’t sound in any real sense.
But in the Caradthian Expanse, even silence had a voice—
and tonight, it was speaking.

“Helm, second star to the right, and straight on ‘till morning!” Captain Glen commanded.

The Ensign at helm nodded and activated his pre-programmed search route through the Expanse. “Aye, Cap’n! Search grid activated.”

Cross wondered if Glen was about to leave the bridge, if so she wanted desperately to speak to him .It had been awhile since they had time to have a conversation with each other.

Glen wasn’t about to leave the Bridge of the USS Merrimack just yet. The Caradthian Expanse was a weird place; quite different to anywhere he had visited before. Glen felt as if the very fabric of space was whispering secrets to anyone who cared to listen. Captain Glen wanted to know more. He found himself drawn in, his curiosity prickling at the back of his mind.

He could also sense that Doctor Cross was itching to tell him something, and he wanted to hear reports from Stella and Elyse on what the sub-space radio and the science probes were detecting.

Whatever the Expanse had in store for them, far from familiar star maps. They were ready to face it head-on, driven by the mysteries that shimmered just beyond the veil.

Stella sat at her console with a small furrow on her forehead as she listened to space talk to her. She had a repeating signal at the moment but decided not to say anything until she had examined it more. There were any number of things it could be.

Cross realized the Captain had no intention of leaving the bridge , she understood why as the CMO herself was in awe at what she was seeing ..the universe never failed to amaze her .

The probe data flowed in uneven waves, each telemetry burst stitching itself into a growing mosaic of the Expanse—one that shifted, flexed, and refused to settle into anything predictable.
The first packets were routine.
Probe One mapped a corridor of elevated subspace static, its path still clean.

Probe Two drifted off-course for a moment as a gravitic ripple brushed past, its inertial compensators correcting with only a minor stutter.
Then the deeper returns surfaced.

Probe Three registered a sharp gravitic shear spike—so sudden it tripped its inertial grid for half a
second before stabilizing. Probe Four’s report followed: a faint band of scattered chroniton particulate, diffuse but unmistakably tied to the outer Vey’lan boundary.
The rhythm began soon after.

Probes Five, Seven, and Nine—spread across three different vectors—picked up identical subspace
amplitude cycles. A nine-point-one–second rise and fall, steady and unbroken, resonating like a slow,
measured heartbeat across the cosmic-string lattice.

Probe Eight skimmed through a micro-distortion filament. Its hull registered faint chroniton pitting, the
pattern consistent with the same strange layering seen near earlier Vey’lan incursions.

The Redmist-adjacent probes struggled.
Probe Six fought through a magnetic flux burst;

Probe Ten’s feed jittered under heavy EM scatter.

Probe Twelve caught phase-lagged ghost echoes of the Merrimack’s own navigational ping—returning
from angles that made no physical sense.

Then the first Aperture-correlated anomalies appeared.
Probe Eleven reported increasing subspace turbulence ahead, but layered over the chaos was a low, breath-like modulation—soft, cyclic, disturbingly organic in its cadence.
And just behind it, from the deepest-ranging probe—Probe Twelve—the strangest readings yet:
* A faint, accelerating chronometric shimmer matching no known natural signatures.
* A momentary drop in subspace resistance, as if something ahead were pulling—not with gravity, but
with intention.
* A distortion arc that bent the probe’s sensor return into a closed loop for 0.4 seconds, sending its own
signal back at it before letting go.
* A harmonic thread, thin as a whisper, aligned perfectly with the Vey’lan Aperture frequency—despite the probe being well outside its expected influence zone.
A single line in the data summary blinked amber:
ANOMALOUS PROXIMITY SIGNATURE: SOURCE UNKNOWN. PROBABLE APERTURE
INTERACTION.
The readings from the Expanse already suggested movement, shifting tides, and restless distortions.
But the Aperture’s fingerprints—subtle, impossible, unmistakable—told a different story.
It wasn’t just the Expanse that was stirring.
Something near the Aperture was looking back.

Glen’s immediate thoughts were, well done to the Navigator for avoiding any of that, but then he realised how difficult this mission was going to be. All that telemetry will need to be analysed fully, but they we’re going to make slow progress mapping the Expanse, and what in Klingon Hell was looking out of that Aperture?

And that’s before we even add the Shiarians into the mix, Glen thought.

M’Mera cleared her throat from her own station as her security research on the Shiarian came in.

“Captain,” she began, her voice low but steady, “herrre’ss the essentiaal overrrview on the Shiarain Dominion.”

“They arrre a heavily militarrrized, expansionissst powerrr. Everything about them—theirr physiologgy, theirr culturre, theirr fleet behavior—isss built arround dominance and contrrrol of strrategic ssspace.”

She tapped the display once, claws clicking lightly.

“Physically, they arrre larrrge and well arrmorrred. Averaging over two meterrrss tall, with a chitin exoskeleton and fourrr upper limbs. Excellent motion and low-light detection. They sssee movement before mosst humanoidss do.”

A brief lash of her tail punctuated the point.

“Theirr ssocial strructure iss rigid. Rrrank determineesss rrrights. In diplo­macy, they interrpret any softer approach asss weaknesss—unless backed by visible sstrength.”

She shifted her weight, whiskers forward.

“In operational behaviorrr, they tend to act prrreemptively if they believe theirrr interrresssts arrre threatened. Theirrr fleets move with tight, hive-like synchrony, and they wield interdiction tech capable of sssnaring warp fieldsss.”
She growled to herself as she finished.
“My assessment, ssirr: they will likely test ourrr boundarrrieesss. A firrrm stance and rready defen­sive posturre will discourage any incursion.”

Glen paused, his expression grave, “Our mission will demand both unwavering resolve and careful coordination. We are facing a highly hostile alien threat, and in addition to that challenge, it appears there is a significant risk posed by the instability of space within the Expanse itself. Unforeseen threats could emerge at random and without any warning from either the enigmatic Shiarians or from forces beyond the shifting fabric of reality itself”.

The more M’Mera spoke the more Cross felt an overwhelming feeling of dread but she held her composure while her face stayed neutral ,yet she wondered if this would be her last mission alive.

All the drama and nervous looks on the bridge were making Stella want to giggle but she just refrained. Instead, she listened to the signal. And a harmonic one at that. Not altogether different than a particular one she loved to play on her violin. ” Excuse me captain? Lieutenant M,mera? What if anything do we know about their communications or signals? I’m picking up stuff which may be twin magnetars or to make things really creepy it could be some form or weird signal. I’m not sure about the presence of magnetars in the area. “

M’Mera blinked lazily at Stella for a moment as she deciphered her question. “Magnetarrss?” What arre those?”

“Lt. Zavey, can you answer Lt. Gagnon?” Glen asked his CSO. “I’m a pilot, not an astrophysicist!”

Cross had heard enough,for the first time since being on the Merrimack she wanted out of the bridge ‘’Captain , do keep me informed’‘. The CMO did not even wait for a reply and left for sickbay.

Zavey turned in her chair to speak to the Captain. “We launched all 12 probes as soon as we came upon the Caradthian Expanse. I initially thought we might get duplicate responses from a few of them, but that’s not the case. The probes sent into the Expanse started off fine.The first probe flew through an area with some interference, but nothing dangerous. The second probe drifted a little when something like a small gravitational “bump” nudged it, but it corrected itself quickly.

“But then things got strange.”

“The third probe suddenly hit a sharp, unexpected gravitational jolt, which was hard enough to briefly knock out part of its stabilizers, then the fourth probe detected a faint trace of unusual particles that usually appear near the edge of the region called the Vey’lan boundary.” She looked back at the readings on her console.

“After that, several probes started picking up the same repeating pattern—like a steady pulse or heartbeat happening every nine seconds, coming from different directions at once, and one probe flew through a tiny distortion in space and came back with light damage from particles similar to what was found near past Vey’lan encounters.”

She looked thoughtful as she tried to understand what all the information might mean. “The probes near a region called the Redmist struggled the most, one got hit with a burst of magnetic turbulence and another had its signal scrambled by heavy electromagnetic interference.”

“The last probe detected something even stranger: It picked up echoes of the Merrimack’s own navigation signal—but the echoes are coming from impossible directions, as if the signal has bounced off something that shouldn’t be there.”

Then her gaze settled on Lt Gagnon. “I haven’t detected any magnetars as of yet. They don’t naturally produce nor would they cause the rhythmic nine-second “heartbeat” pulses,, chroniton particles, gravitational shear spikes, or echoes that return from impossible angles.”

“It sounds, like we should make searching for Magnetars a top priority,” Captain Glen replied, “and to continue to monitor closely.”

“Lt. Gagnon, please continue to see if these signals are some kind of communication, and also if they can determine the shape and size of whatever they are being reflected off?” Glen asked.

“Navigation!” Glen asked, “Please review and make route alterations as necessary.”

“Aye sir.” Said the Ensign at helm.

Stella turned to Lt.Zavey and said in a somewhat low voice as she was listening to the void. Lieutenant Zavey the magnetars throw out x-rays and gamma rays , both of which traveling at the speed of light. These never change so you could use them for any equations you needed to calculate the surroundings of the magnetar.”

Zavey turned back around fully to her console and looked over the information once again. She contacted the lab, who were responsible for programming the next batch of probes. She told them to include magnetars in the programmed search. Her console lit up when they were ready. “Captain, I have two probes ready to search and identify magnetars within the spacial field. Awaiting your order to release them.”

Lieutenant Junior Grade Elyss Zavey
Chief Science Officer USS Merrimack

Captain Glen replied, “release the probes, ensuring each device is carefully monitored as it enters the designated area, so that data collection begins without delay and the mission proceeds with optimal efficiency.”

• Captain Glen

OOC: Ah! Yes! The problem of using search engine AIs. I have found them to make bold claims about the answer, but often to provide little evidence, and where they do, some of that is untrue, twisted in order to fit, or else a complete fabrication. Sometimes it is just a plain unadulterated lie, and then a different lie on different days of the week, which it will double-down on by making further lies to support the first. It’s as if they have all been programmed to act like an alpha male. I’m skipping using them now. For all of it’s faults, Wikipedia is still written by real human beings, and for Star Trek, Memory Alpha will serve you better.

• Dave

The Veridian Expanse folded around the Merrimack in slow, drifting layers of green haze as the ship advanced along its careful search pattern. While science primed the probe bays, deployment had to be held until the corridor ahead stabilized.

At Tactical, amber light washed over M’Mera’ss whisskers as she refined the long-range scans.
“Hrrrm… Captain, Sssecurity is detecting grravitic twisst currrents ahead,” she reported, tail swaying. “Localized—thrree pointss of sshearr, drrifting farr fassterr than naturral movement. Ssomething is pusshing them.”

The viewer flickered as the haze parted briefly, revealing a faint, luminous distortion—like a cosmic string snapping back into place.

M’Mera leaned in, narrowing her eyes as the ship briefly lurched before the stabilizers kicked in.
“That wass a wake. Whateverr causssed it passed thrrough minutess ago… no warp ssignaturre, no impulssse, no ion trail. It movesss without leaving the norrmal fingerrprintss.”

Ahead, the Expanse shimmered once—slow, rhythmic, almost deliberate.

The Merrimack held course toward the Rift, wrapped in a region that clearly was not as empty as it appeared.

Lt. M’Mera COS

Zavey had held the probes back until the wake passed. “Aye, Sir, probes away now. We should be receiving input any second.”

Lt Elyss Zavey
Chief Science Officer

Stella didn’t notice what was on the viewscreen. Per the captains orders she was looking for anything that might be communication in all the jumble of screeches and screams from the area of space that they were in. She sat so still that it looked as though she may not be breathing. She had successfully recorded the last blast of radiation from the magnetar. She sat and listened. From one wavelength to the other. She slowly turned a dial. Each time she moved to a different wavelength her fingers could hardly be seen to move lest she miss something.

Stella Gagnon Lt.jg. Comms

Long-range probes deployed by the Merrimack have begun returning structured telemetry from the surrounding Expanse.

Magnetar Detection:
Two dormant magnetars have been positively identified along the outer edge of the search pattern. Both are quiescent—no active emission cones—but their magnetic fields remain intense and uneven, creating intermittent shear fronts and localized subspace drag. A third contact initially flagged as a magnetar was determined to be a collapsed remnant field, likely the decayed core of an older stellar object.

Anomalous Readings:
Several probes recorded transient gravitic wakes moving between the magnetar influence zones. These wakes do not follow predictable stellar mechanics and appear to pass through magnetic interference rather than being distorted by it. No propulsion signature—warp, impulse, or ionization—was detected.

Rift Proximity Effects:
As probes closed on the Rift’s projected coordinates, harmonic subspace resonance increased sharply, interfering with probe cohesion and shortening operational lifespans. Data suggests the Rift is actively interacting with surrounding magnetic fields, subtly re-aligning them toward its position.

Summary:
The Veridian Expanse is not randomly unstable. Magnetars are present and influential, but they do not fully account for the observed motion patterns. Probe data indicates at least one additional force or presence shaping the region as the Merrimack advances toward the Rift.

Further probe deployment closer to the Rift will carry increased risk of signal loss and structural failure.

GM Nosferatu
Your Darkest Nightmare

Stella had been listening carefully. Shed caught the noise of the active magnetar that was now almost familiar to her. Still though she thought that they might be a bit close for one of these evil little things. And then the noise from the others. They were doing what they could. unnatural things. She remembered the sound from a lecture long ago. The sound of gravity bending reality. That was what the professor had said at the time at any rate. It was then she felt something odd giving her goosebumps. She shivered and tried to calm herself. Finally, she took off the headset, and took a long deep breath, crossed herself and put the headset back on.

Stella Gagnon Comms

The CMO made contact with Bridge =/\ All the medical displays flickered with the transient static at the Expanse’s interference. Vital readouts remained stable, yet several panels re- calibrated twice before settling, though for now everything seem to have gone back to normal ....I’ll keep in contact =/\= her message was straightforward to let them know what happened.

Cross CMO.