Star Trek: Starbase 777 - inner-hall-north

At the head of her group Aoife pressed further down into the main hallway that they found themselves in.

Vesta joined the group, she didn’t have a great grasp on the relationships that existed within the away team, but she had the sense that nobody in his group was particularly close. Which was probably a good thing considering that she didn’t have many relationships. No matter, she continued to walk with the group, keeping her head on a swivel.

Lekraan kept to the rear, cybernetic eye sweeping the hall in a slow, methodical arc. One hand adjusted the strap of his satchel, another hovered near the tricorder at his hip, the third resting easy but ready to move. Close to the action or not, it never hurt to be ready—especially here.

Vara'l kept to the rear of the group as Aoife was at the head, swift as he could Vara'l paired the tricorder with his hearing aids and inputted the commands to ensure the tricorder continued to scan. Once that was done he'd directed the tricorder to alert him with a tone notification if a non-Starfleet lifesign was detected nearby. He then slipped the tricorder into its place on his belt and held the phaser rifle in both hands in a ready-rest hold as he watched behind the group. "Heads on a swivel, everyone." Vara'l advised as they walked.

She knew what the CTO had said, but to be completely honest Saeihr was rather scared of walking at the back of the group so she was glad to see that the Commander was taking the rear. Instead she joined the front of their group which was only marginally better, but she did her best to convey the area in front of them for any potential dangers the others had not spotted yet, while also keeping up deep breaths to keep her hands steady.

After a little while Aoife spoke up. "You know what eats me?" She let the question linger for a hares breath too short a time for anyone to answer before answering herself. "How does a massive 28 kilometers cubed Borg cube just appear a few light years from 777 as if it just appeared out of thin air. And how do I hear nothing through the grapevine. My job is to be well informed, a cube is not subtle when it warps anywhere. Especially because to get here it would need to pass through either most of Romulan space or half the federation, assuming it came from the delta quadrant." Rant over Aoife went back to her point position in the group formation. Even for a seasoned officer like her the Borg clearly made her nervous. Espiceally when the didn't act like any Borg previously seen or heard from.

"It could well hace come through a transwarp conduit Lieutenant Commander or otherwise eliminated whatever might have passed a warning out." The Romulan offered in the face of Aoife's rant then, voice full of a enforced calm born of far deeper a effort expended than it had been any other day. "There'll be a explanation for it and hopefully, we'll find it." Conscious of the brittle edges of his calm perhaps apparent to the more perceptive as he'd uttered what he uttered, but unwilling to forsake the effort he had engaged in. He was in a cube, in this place this literal slice of the Terran hell so much like other places he remembered. So much like what other drones had attempted to make a ship he'd been on, been assimilated on. He feared though he'd never admit it, that to end that effort now to see his true feeling betrayed by tone would be to walk down paths he couldn't walk down yet. Not yet.

"I don't know about you, but I really hate the idea of a transwarp conduit terminating so close to us." Aoife spoke as she continued to walk further down the hallway looking for anything of interest like a control area or computer interface. The humidity continued to get to her as she walked sweat now ruining her red hair. Tied neatly in a bun the frizz would be a nightmare when they got off the ship.

"It's not a idea I enjoy, no matter the cause of it arriving without warning, we need to find it out." Vara'l responded then bas he continued to walk at the back of the group as he acted as rearguard. "If it does turn out to be a conduit, that'll be a bridge we cross once it's gotten too, I suppose." One hand briefly removed from the rifle, Vara'l retrieved a water bottle from his bag and indulged in a brief sip of water. He then returned it to the bag once the top was secured and returned both his hands to the rifle.

"If we find a control node do you think you can interface with it?" Aoife asked Vara'l as she pressed further into the hallway, keeping her rifle raised as she continued forward.

Vara'l nodded then. "I'd not be as adept at it as Lieutenant Five I expect, but yes, I believe I could give it a go." The xB confirmed then.

Although Tarsek’s knowledge about the Borg was limited and any previous contact was inexistent, the chance of encountering active drones made it wise for Diplomatic Corps to send at least one officer. So there he was, his first extra-starbase mission, trapped in a Borg cube that mysteriously appeared with no clear explanation. He was off to a good start. Since security in numbers was the priority, specially knowing now that they were not alone, he chose to accompany the bigger group, phaser in one hand while listening to Vara’l and Aoife’s ponderations. It was logical to follow them, as they had more time serving on the 777 than him. (edited)

"Let's hope we find one somewhere around here." Aoife said as she continued down the hallway, hoping that Vara'l could interface with the cubes computers and find a shield generator for them to disable.

"Indeed." Vara'l responded then as he continued to act as rear-guard and followed along with the group. "We should encounter one, I suspect." Not that he happened to be fond of the idea of interfacing with the cubes systems, but well, it needed to be done. So he elected to keep an eye out for a console as well, while he'd continued to act as rear-guard

She remained silent, her eyes seeming to jump from item to item. Staying just a moment to register, but not long enough to dwell on it. Whilst she was no Borg specialist, she had enough experience with non-Federation technology to help. Plus, she was handy with a phaser. Handy enough to survive Archanis IV.

Vesta was also put off by the concept of a transwarp conduit so close to 777. If it existed, then it was active, and probably not something that the federation would be able to use for its own advantage. Could you destroy a transwarp conduit? Probably, but that was outside of Vesta’s scope of work. She continued looking around, with the life sign approaching it felt like they were all waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Consoles galore, to be fair. Pick one and try your luck! Whether or not that would lead to useful information was a second thing entirely, of course.

"I guess we pick one and pray we don't blow anything up." Aoife said with a hint of sarcasm. Though she wasn't sure what any of the consoles actually did.

Paco has definitely been here the whole time with tricorder out, diligently scanning each console to see which would be safest for Vara'l to interact with. The scientist stayed silent for the most part because he didn't have much to say. This was probably his first ever encounter with the Borg for real, so he was both extremely nervous, but also taken aback from how surreal this all was. He also didn't know anybody else aside from Aoife, whom he stayed close with since she was probably the most familiar person to him. Paco also probably passed by Vara'l and his kid occasionally in the past. "If we found a way to use the transwarp conduits without making the Borg mad at us, imagine how much we could explore out there..." Paco quietly said, mostly to himself, but also open to the others as well. Being an anthropologist, and one who has read extensively about Voyager's travels, he felt a somewhat optimistic about the possibility if it would mean exploring strange new worlds and seeking out new life and new civilizations. Alas, he knew that would mean being assimilated in reality

"Seems so." Vara'l moved over to one of the consoles as he reached out to begin to operate it then pause at Paco's words. "I doubt that'll be a wise thing to attempt for some time yet." He mused before his gaze returned to the console. "Here goes." He then reached out to it and attempted to operate it and identify what sort of console it happened to be.

As an engineer, it was basically her job to walk up to a console and try to make it work. She popped out a standard tricorder, placing it on the console as it scanned it. The Andorian cautiously began to operate the console. It clearly wasn’t designed to be hand controlled per say. Like most Borg things, plugging in your arm would seem to do the trick. However, her arms were a little too fragile. It wasn’t long before she found where the main connection for the console was in place, and using a spare cable attempted to connect her tricorder to it. Perhaps this way she could command and then access the console.

An engineering console here, too, upon touching it. With some credentials, it could be logged into just as Five had done earlier, and hopefully some information could be gleaned here.

"Its a engineering console." Vara'l reported as he continued to attempt to work it and provided the identification necessary. "I'll see what I can get from it as a former tactical drone." The xB glanced to the Lieutenant as she proceeded to do what she did. "Lieutenant, what are you doing?" He inquired then as his gaze returned to the console and his operation of it as he completed the input of the identification necessary and waited to see what happened.

“Trying to access the console.” She muttered, her voice tapering off towards the end of the sentence. She looked towards him, then at his console. “Do you require any assistance? I’m not a Borg tech specialist, but I can try where I can.”

"I've already accessed the console, Lieutenant." Vara'l responded simply then before he looked back to the console. "I am awaiting its reaction to my input of credentials." The Romulan informed the other as he mentally reigned in the initial urge to also observe that he'd be in the line of fire first potentially if the console objected to a attempted intrusion. I'd advise you to hold off on attempting a intrusion using Starfleet tech into Borg computer systems until such time as we've attempted all that can be attempted my way." The Romulan glanced to the console then and then looked back at the Lieutenant. "Simply put, I've got this." He proceeded to then say as he elected to leave the other thoughts that had passed through his mind unvoiced right now. He was the CTO, not the CEO or ACEO and this person was a engineering officer, after all.

Yeah, it's easy enough to connect to the console Vara'l's way. Yaveru in fact has more trouble, because the console seems to almost be blocking her attempts. It doesn't at all enjoy being poked into by Starfleet, as it turns out.

She nodded. “I know. But it’s better than standing around.” There was an unintentional hint of spite in her voice. Or rather, frustation. Would she be another point of failure here? She certainly had that on her mind, and was trying not to let that lead to compulsive actions. She pocketed the tricorder once again, her antennae curling at the edge. At least she could keep an eye out for anything, should they come to them.

"I get why you're feeling as you are Lieutenant, but please be aware that we are on a Borg cube, a Starfleet tech intrusion may result in a hostile response and if there's other options I'd argue they need to be pursued prior to it." Vara'l observed simply as he attempted to pull up a map if it accepted his credentials and allowed him access. *He also wanted to try and determine what the console could access, so he peered closely at it as he worked, watching as he worked for anything that'd provide that answer. *

The Vulcan watched the interaction and once the Andorian stepped back from her console of choice he approached, speaking in a monotonous but strangely gentle tone. “I believe Lt. Cdr. Vara’l is correct. We do not have a lot of familiarity with this technology. One step at a time, or rather one console at a time, might decrease our chances of activating some unpleasant cube protocol against invaders.” Tarsek observed. “Let us keep a keen eye for any danger as they work, to act as quick as possible if needed.” He offered.

"We a-..we were Borg, hopefully my credential's will ah, not trigger a hostile response protocol at this point." The Romulan stated then as he worked and mentally kicked himself for the slip. "As long as we don't fire and keep access to this methodology, using their own consoles, we'll not be giving the cube any further prompting yet to designate us a hostile boarding team worthy of attention in its current state." Vara'l explained as he worked, grey hued eyes fixed upon the console as he operated it and looked for that map and what it accessed. As he worked, he idly inhaled then exhaled slowly a few times and mentally re-centred himself. Being on the cube was not something he at all enjoyed. Too many reminders presented themselves of previous times, too many reminders of the Arrenhe and desperate counter-boarding actions before he was assimilated. Thank the elements, in some strange way, for the hols that remained in his memory in places. "Keep eyes on the peremiter while I work on this."

A map of 100m in all directions, providing a 200 meter cube as the other one had. It showed low-level activity all round, some flickering energy signals, some surges in the vicinity where the others were. Then, suddenly and rapidly, two separate surges occured, out of range of the map, though the power could be followed at least where they were. Something just happened.

3

“Understood commander.” The vulcan acknowledged. He stored the information offered by the other officer. Knowing he was definitely familiar with the console was an even bigger reason to follow his lead. Whatever curiosity the fact shared instigated was promptly supressed. Now was not the time nor the place. While attentive to the surroundings scanning for any threat, he also decided to keep a general eye on the team’s morale. High risk missions, as he was well aware, could bring internal conflicts.

"I've gotten a map." The Romulan proceeded to inform the others before a eyebrow raise met the discovery of the flickering energy signals and the surges he detected. "Something's just occurred, whatever that something was, it just caused two seperate power surges."

"Well thatspromising!" Paco said as their map expanded by another 100 meters thanks to Vara'l, at least before the two surges occured, to which Paco pulled out his tricorder. "We can follow the power flow with the tricorders. I suggest we get moving, sir."

"Indeed." The Romulan confirmed as he reached down to his tricorder, pulled it out and recorded the map. "Agreed, it seems like something it'd be wise to explore now rather than wait on." While he'd have loved to have the engineer take a look, with his translating the Borg-speak at the console to determine more about it, he reckoned those surges meant something big. Potentially something that happened to be bad, but still something that needed to be checked out. "Lets get moving." Taking a scan of the console before he started to move, Vara'l looked to Paco. "Given you're the scientist in the group, may I propose that yourself and the Lieutenant from Engineering lead the way?" The Romulan proposed then. "Lieutenant Commander Aoife and myself can hold perimeter alongside Lieutenant Commander Tarsek as we progress."

Paco's eye's widened when he heard the proposal of Paco being one of the people to lead the group as they progressed from here, glancing down from his tricorder to the path ahead. He took in a deep breath, and an audible gulp, before he looked back to Vara'l. "Alright, sir. I can help lead the way." In horror movies, they always go for whoever is in the back anyway, so being in the front might possibly be a good thing??? He wasn't sure, but if it means helping the group push forward, to help lead was the best choice to make.

2

Vesta walked with the group, hopefully the source power surge would hold some answers as to what exactly was going on here.

"Deep breaths, Lieutenant." The Romulan responded then as he followed along and maintained his position as rear-guard as he trusted Aoife to do keep watch ahead of the group as the group moved. "If we can track down a tactical console on the way, I'd like to try and confirm the surges weren't due to...certain things." Vara'l proceeded to say conversationally as the group headed off.

”Are you worried the surges might be indication of action towards the Eventine?” Tarsek asked while moving with his phaser ready. “If it was indeed activation of a program of defense, we are likely not the targets as so far we have endured no attacks. We do not have current updates on the situation outside, but we can expect the ship crew to be working on restoring communications and transportation. Do you believe the cube would react to those attempts?” The question of course was directed at Vara’l. (edited)

Well, that put paid to any attempt to not further worry the Lieutenant he reckoned. Though he happened to be sure that he'd soundly put his foot in it when he'd uttered that thing about certain things. Another thing the officer mentally kicked himself for as he nodded once. "Yes, if the cube detected a effort to do so that could be construed as threatening to the cube, it might have elected to initiate action against the Eventide." Vara'l responded simply as he continued to move as part of the rear-guard. "If the shields are up, they may have attempted to neutralise them or otherwise effect some form of move to bypass them to restore communications and pull us out." The Romulan posited then before he he checked his tricorder one handed. "That might do it." He lapsed into thoughtful silence for a moment then before he continued. "We'd be considered less of a threat priority than the ship was and we've yet to do anything that'd trigger a targeted response such as a attempted systems incursion or weapons discharge."

The power surged southwards, back the way everyone had come. Eventually, though, it'd surge upwards, and out of reach. There wasn't really currently any way to get to where it was going. Tarsek was saying some very intelligent things though, hint hint nudge nudge.

2

"It's possible. The Borg do become more active in response to a threat." Paco said as he continued leading the way down. "Though I expected there to be more drones moving around and about the moment the cube reacted. Y'know, for boarding and stuff." He added with a shrug. "I mean, if the Eventide were trying to get back into contact with us, they would need to either bypass or disrupt the shields in order to do it the cube might be reacting to that. I dunno if a Borg ships can act independently without any drones in them, so at least that confirms there are either 1 or more drones around... that or someone's in the bridge of the cube and calling the shots."

"We're not that much of a threat yet to the cubes operations." Vara'l started to respond to Paco before he frowned a bit. "Although, I'd honestly expected that despite that we may garner some attention due to Lieutenant Commander O'Rielly's munitions." He then pulled out his tricorder again and conducted another scan. "If they're trying to bring down the shields and there is a cube still active for the Hive-mind to work through." He started again before he looked to Paco. "Or if there's a disconnected drone or thing with computer access, they'd most certainly react to an attempt to bring the shields down or otherwise interfere with them." The xB stated simply before he added. "Though I concur with your statement related to the drone, though.. cubes don't have bridges, which'll make it harder to track down whatever's doing what's being done."

Well, you've got one clue at least: last you thing you knew, the only life sign on the cube was Quite Close to your location.

"So one drone can control the whole cube?" Paco asked Vara'l out of genuine curiosity as he continued down the path. "According to scans we are Quite Close to the lifesign... If I can make a suggestion, when we do see whoever's controlling the cube and if they do not notice us, I kinda want to observe whatever it is they're doing before we intervene in any way." Paco quietly proposed. "If they are a drone, and disconnected from the hive-mind, I think it's best if we approach them slowly? Gently would be a better term."

“It might not be disconnected from the hive mind.” Vesta signed quickly. Though she still hated that they had no idea where the life sign was or where it was coming from. “If it is a drone, that is.”

2

"Not as efficiently as a fully populated cube, but in theory a drone could control elements of the cube from anywhere aboard." Vara'l responded simply then before he added. "Just without the efficiency of large numbers of drones controlled by the Hive Mind." When Paco proceeded to say what they said, Vara'l nodded slightly. "Observation would help us to further gather information on how the drone or whatever it is is, what it is and the nature of the threat it may pose." Vara'l responded then as he checked his tricorder and considered their location compared to where the life sign is. "I'd say it'd be wise yes." He confirmed then. "Being disconnected from the hive-mind like that I've been told is.. quite unpleasant." His jaw worked a bit then before he moved to speak then paused and looked to the other Lieutenant. "You may have a point." Vara'l proceeded to say as he accompanied spoken words with SSL sign, his phaser rifle clutched one-handed and his tricorder returned to its holster. "It might still be connected, it might not if the cube's been deemed lost and not worth recovering.. but we lack the data to determine that either way."

"Regardless." Paco signed back. "I feel the extra caution would be wise over going in phasers blasting." It's so cool that there are holodeck programs where one can voluntarily learn Standard Sign Language.

"I say we stun first and ask questions later." Aoife said before switching to combat signs directing the tactical officers and anyone who could understand to set up a crossfire should the drone decide to appear.

”If the cube has some sort of automatic defense protocols, it might not be wise to incapacitate the life form that might be controlling it. If it is a drone, and still connected to the hive mind, there is a chance of us triggering some sort of chain reaction. I concur with the lieutenant, we should observe if we have the opportunity to do so.” Tarsek made sure to sign his words while speaking out loud. “However caution is advised, it might attack at first sight. Then we would have no choice but to defend ourselves. Though I will point it has had time and plenty resources to harm us already, but it did not so far.”

"Extra caution would be far better, to determine what's being dealt with before we potentially aggravate the situation further by discharging phaser rifles on a Borg cube, a act that might well result in a security response." Vara'l responded as he spotted Aoife's signals and elected to not directly object to Aoifes command yet as he instead pulled out his tricorder. * *Vara'l then scanned the environment around them with the tricorder as he attempted to determine if there was a life-sign about that wasn't Starfleet.

"If it isn't disconnected, then other cubes should've popped by at some point while we were here. Kind of weird to leave one cube to be run by one person by itself without reinforcement. And that's despite one cube being very capable by itself." Paco thought outloud as he continued to focus on his tricorder. "The borg abandon drones who are too damaged right? Could that be the case here?"

"Depending on how far it is from a transwarp conduit reinforcement could potentially still be on the way, though I do agree with you there." Vara'l responed as he continued to ensure his spoken word was accompanied by sign, just in case Lieutenant Kuzeed needed that. "And yes, they do, the same can potentially occur with cubes where retrieval isn't deemed possible or so I've heard."

”Could be.” Still it did not seem right to Tarsek to declare it a case of abandonment with so little information. They needed to be careful and gather more data. “Then we go back to the question of how and why it did get here. As commander Vara’l informed, a retrieval party might be on their way, and if this cube was able to easily appear without notice so far inside our sector I do not see a reason as to why other cubes would not be able to do the same aside from unsustained speculation based on facts we do not possess. Our most likely source for those facts is the life form aboard.”

Lekraan eased to a stop just behind Vara’l, one hand on his satchel, another braced against the bulkhead, the third adjusting his medscanner, adjusting the scan. His cybernetic eye flared faintly, sweeping the corridor ahead of him. Heat blooms, trace ionization, and microfracture outlines flickered in his overlay as he tried to see anything that stood out before he focused on the others. “If it is injured or operating outside the hive link,”he said evenly , “its physiological state might give us more answers than its words. I can keep a scan running as we close in—flag stress responses, chemical spikes, anything that suggests it’s about to act.” He gave a slight shrug, tone still calm. “If it’s hostile, you’ll know before I do. But if it isn’t, we might avoid making a patient into an enemy.”

Just scanning around wouldn't give too much aside from the expected pings. A bit less than expected even, since both other groups had left the main hall they'd arrived in, and wouldn't give accurate pings anymore. However. A single flick upward would give another ping for life signs. Vague, and a little incomprehensible, but it was there. Several hundred meters away, and simply... sitting there. Stalling. Waiting.

The soft click of Lekraan’s prosthetic lens cut through the quiet as he caught the blip. His third hand stilled over the medscanner, the other two easing away from the wall and the satchel as he spoke low enough for the team to hear.“Got something.” A faint blue flick ran across his right eye as the overlay refreshed. “Life sign, several hundred meters out. Stationary. Not hiding, not moving—just… waiting.” He glanced between the others, voice calm but edged with intent. *“If they wanted to avoid us, they’ve had the time. This feels deliberate.”This was spooky. Maybe getting assimilated the moment they stepped onboard was better than this.*

Vara'l frowned at the revelation from his tricorder and from the other Lieutenant commander. "I does." The Romulan concurred then before with tactical hand signals he signalled for officers to take up station in between the group and the life-sign as he ensured fields of fire overlapped on the potential direction of approach. "We need more data, we can get that through a controlled approach toward the lifesign potentially as has been stated." The Romulan mused out loud then before he proceeded to say. "I think we should approach with care, rifles to the front covering angles on the route with rear-guard." He looked to Aoife then. "Do you concur?"

Aoife nodded in response to Vara'l. Training her rifle down the hallway, before replying in signs. 'shoot on sight or wait for your command?'

Vara'l signed in response. 'Await command unless hostile threat to life action observed by unknown life-sign.' before he proceeded to speak. "Lets approach the life sign and gather what information we can, if we have to withdraw from them or act to neutralise them we can, either way we need the data." The Romulan decided then as he started forward. "Lieutenant commander, I'm sorry I don't know your name, can you try and keep a lock on that reading as we approach?" Vara'l asked as he started to move then. "We should keep up scanning to try and determine how it reacts to our approach, as I suspect that sensor data mentioned earlier may well be something it has access to."

Lekraan adjusted his pace to fall in beside CTO Vara’l—one hand steady on his satchel, another fine-tuning the medscanner, the third brushing the bulkhead for balance as they moved. The faint whirr of his prosthetic lens tracked each glance ahead. “Lekraan,” he supplied, keeping it brief given their surroundings. *“I’ll try to maintain the lock, keep the scan active, and flag any change in movement or biometrics.”His gaze stayed on the readout, cybernetic lens flickering as it cross-checked every pulse and heat trace. When he looked back to Vara’l, his voice was level but edged with focus.* “If it reacts, you’ll know before it reaches us.”

The biosigns weren't changing at all, at least for now. They could approach fairly safely, or so it seemed. Of course, you could never know with Borg drones.

Vara'l nodded once at Lekraan's introduction and provision of information. "Good to meet you, Lieutenant Commander Lekraan, though I'd have preferred it to be under better circumstances." He commenced initially before he added. "Thank you." *A thought then struck him, wondering as he attempted it if communications between teams on the cube were just as blocked as those between Eventide and them, he tapped his combadge as he continued his approach toward the drone. *

High up in the hall, where it was shrouded in darkness except for the faintest glints of light on metal, hung a semi-humanoid figure. Normally, it wouldn't stand out much against the dark metal of the cube, but if you were looking for it, you would see that it was there. Making out any details about it was difficult, though from everything it was clear that this was, in fact, the drone they were looking for. Peculiarly, it seemed like the drone was hanging almost limply off the wall, its feet dangling below it without grip on anything, its arm attachments out in front of it, as if readying itself to grab something. Only the barest glint could be spotted, revealing that something else was keeping it aloft. Then, almost as if it sensed being spotted, it moved back further into darkness and out of direct view, an extended, eerie groan of metal on metal once more echoing through the hall before slowly stilling entirely once more.

13

Vara'l looked around, once he spotted it Vara'l calmly but softly requested. "Commander Lekraan, please can the drone, no hostile actions." The xB looked up at the other and inhaled slightly as he attempted to centre himself once more, resisted the urge to audibly observe their malfunction. Some of what he happened to be remained discomforted about the fact inefficiencies of this, the malfunction some of what he'd seen had indicated. Well, a lot of what he'd seen had indicated. "..That was not normal."

She stopped cold at the sight of the drone. The way it seemed to just hang there before disappearing struck a cord deep within her, installing a feeling that she couldn’t quite place. The comment from her commanding officer, that this behavior was abnormal even for the Borg only brought further dread. “Why?” She signed slowly, which was translated into almost a whisper.

"Well, that's just downright freaky." Aoife said quietly. After everything she'd seen in the field over the years this was one of the few that sent shivers down her spine.

Vara'l accompanied what he said next with SSL sign as he responded to the other. "Borg do not act like that, not in the case of a drone." He informed them. "They don't skitter away or react like that to detection, if a drone is hive-mind linked and detects its been spotted and the hive had determined something is a threat, the threat is addressed and neutralised." Vara'l stated simply before he then glanced back at it and then stated. "If Commander Lekraan and others were able to get further scans of it, we'll learn more." He then glanced to Aoife and nodded slightly in agreement before he tapped his combage once more. Tapped it and swallowed a bit as hidden behind his carefully cultivated facade of calm he waged a battle against emotion and clamped down upon it. Emotions were inefficient, he needed to operate effectively here and now.

Further scans provided the information that the drone had just moved out of sight for the time being. It was still up there, being ominous as fuck, you just couldn't see it anymore.

6

”I am unsure if communication with that drone is possible.” Tarsek observed calmly, no sign of being surprised or even slightly unsettled by the strange vision. “And if it is acting so out of the norm maybe it is, indeed, malfunctioning enough to justify being abandoned. Could it be there is something tampering with its behavior and decisions?”

“We could get up by it, if we wanted.” She had no idea why anyone would want to do that, but she owed it to give any ideas. “I have climbing equipment, a few anti-grav harnesses that is.”

"Commander Lekraan, given your medical training, is there anything you can tell us about the drone from scans?" The Romulan inquired then as he looked up in the general direction it had withdrawn too, phaser raised ready just in case. "It's not like a drone to just withdraw like that, something is not right." Vara'l pulled out his own tricorder as he held his rifle one handed and commenced his own scan. "It could be, if the drones malfunctioning sufficiently enough the hive-mind might well see fit to disconnect it." The Romulan then mentally reviewed what little he'd glimpsed of it. "I'd like to know what was keeping it up there, given how limp it was hanging and if it is the drone we're dealing with, given again...how limp it was hanging." The Romulan then looked to Vesta as he verbally responded and signed. "It's a option, though I'd personally argue we could use a bit more data on what we're dealing with...given how odd it was acting, it could be waiting to pounce on us just out of reach for one." He then looked down to his tricorder as he peered at the scans.

The entire cube lurched as it took a hit from Eventide.

Vara'l jerked to one side with the lurch and recovered with a hand on a wall as he stated. "It would appear the cube has been engaged, likely by the Eventide." Then looked in the direction of the drone. "If we've enough data for Commander Lekraan to utilize to give us some indication of what we're dealing with drone wise." The Romulan paused a moment as he swallowed. "We may wish to consider either moving on or if the data suggests a safe approach for doing so, pressing for a better look at the drone." He frowned. "That or if we should renew a search for the shield generator further to restoring communications with the ship, given new developments.." At the com hail, Vara'l tapped his com badge and responded. (edited)

The cube lurched again with another hit.

”I believe this confirms our hypothesis of the cube acting against the Eventide as it would be illogical for us to attack first with personel trapped inside.” The Vulcan commented. “We must find a way to get our people out safely, restoring communications and transport if possible should be our main priority.” He reasoned to the others, waiting then for more opinions. (edited)

Vara'l frowned as he stumbled then turned on his phaser rifle's underslung light. He then proceeded to check the tricorder again as he considered the Lieutenant commanders words. "Agreed, given Eventide's commenced engagement for whatever reason the priority is now exfiltration with what information we've gathered."

"We need to get to a shield node asap then." Aoife chimed in. They mustn't be able to do much if the shields are still up after those two salvos. "They felt like quantum torpedo's from the impact strength." (edited)

Vesta steadied herself, though she kept her eyes on where the drone had been. “Can a ship like the Eventide even win against a Borg Cube?” Vesta asked, she knew that the little ship was strong and that the cube in question wasn’t in peak condition, but her aura still stood. With it came the unspoken question, if it couldn’t win, would the Eventide need to retreat? Or worse, would it be destroyed.

Vara'l looked to Aoife first. "Agreed, lets move, rear-guard to monitor the drone for if it tries to follow us." The Romulan decided before he glanced to Vesta and grimaced. "Its not a engagement I'd have elected to go for without vessels in support." Vara'l responded simply then before he added. "Lets move."

”Eventide winning and destroying the cube leads to our deaths. The cube winning leads to our crew dead and us being trapped. Either way, we cannot help the ship unless we stop the cube’s attacks from the inside out, which is unlikely. We must find a way to get out Lieutenant.” Tarsek said, his tone a bit more commanding this time. These questions were wasting their time, and the Eventine’s.

Vara'l started to move as he gestured for the team to get moving. "Lets go, move move." Quick as he uttered those words and signalled for Aoife to help him with rear-guard cover. What had led to the Eventide engaging a Borg cube was something that could be addressed later, if they survived and killed during the destruction of the cube if things turned out that way. That or...assimilated. "Walk and talk, we need to find that shield node or a console that'll let us get shields down and exfil." He then tapped his combadge.

"The Eventide might not have had a choice but to engage. If our Comms are jammed theirs might be too." Aoife said after Vara'l mentioned not engaging without reinforcements. "I've got the rear you take point you're more likely to know what a Borg shield generator looks like then me."

"Lieutenant Commander, the whys and wherefores aren't for here, they're for inquiries after the fact." The Romulan stated simply. "Right now we've officers imperilled by this and need to secure exfil from the cube and do what we can to aid the Eventide." At what the other then suggested, Vara'l considered things then nodded. "Commander Tarsek, you okay supporting Commander O'Reilly with rear-guard?" He asked as he'd tapped his combadge again and had moved to the front to take point guard.

As they walked deeper into the cube Vesta still kept a lookout for the drone. She felt like with the beginning of combat and the bickering Lieutenant Commanders that they had all moved past that too quickly. Maybe because in her opinion four Lieutenant Commanders on one team was far too many. “What do you think was keeping the drone hung up like that, and then the way it can still move even while up there…” Her hands trailed off at the end. As concerning as the fire fight happening outside was and what it implied, she simply couldn’t stop thinking about the drone.

"Not sure. Doesn't look like a typical drone, that's for sure." She muttered, her hands clutching her phaser as she moved along with them, positioning herself towards the outer left. It was unnerving to be sure, but she must keep focus. Everything seemed to blur at the edges again, any little sound too audible. The Trill-Andorian couldn't help but assume the worst, even if her training kept her visibly composed.

The Vulcan nodded and started walking in formation alongside Aoife, phaser in hand, eyes and ears alert.

"We need to analyse the scans we got of it, I tired to get a better look with a torch but, didn't see much." Vara'l responded after he glanced back and caught he hoped enough of what was being said to have responded to the right things. He then turned to look forward as he moved once more. "I think medical analysis of the scans, perhaps with an engineer's look over, will give us at least...some indication of what was up with that drone.."

Lekraan kept the medscanner close as they checked it to see any anomalies. His cybernetic lens flickered as he replayed the drone’s posture in his mind, trying to make sense of it.“Hard to say for certain,” he admitted quietly. *“Could’ve been a mag-clamp, or some tether in the wall… maybe even something integrated into its frame. I couldn’t get a clean angle.” *He glanced toward Vesta, his voice low and measured. “Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to restrict its arms. If it wanted to grab something, it still could, most likely, be careful."

After the cube had not jerked for a while, and the coast seemed clear, the life sign of the drone started moving again, further away from the team, before eventually being blocked by so much metal and energy that the tricorder could no longer pick up on it.

The mix of trying to maintain balance as the Eventide and the Cube exchanged fire, and the sheer ominous and scary as fuck sight of One of All made Paco freeze for a little bit before hearing Vara'l mention something about analyzing scans made the scientist snap out of it, still taking deep breaths to center himself as he looked down to his tricorder. "W-we... they moved, and now we lost their signal, unfortunately... but at least we know the general direction of where they went..."

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”I believe it wise we keep constant scanning for its life sign.” Tarsek said with the news. “We do not know of its intent nor can we speculate. It might come back while we search for the shield generator and decide to take offense. If we keep constant surveillance, we can identify its signal when it comes back to range before it surprises us.”

“The scans you got of it earlier, did they read like a regular Borg drone?” Vesta asked both Paco and Lekraan. She had no idea what a normal Borg drone even scanned like, but it was her best idea.

Scanning for life signs would reveal where it had gone, vaguely. It was still in the area of the hall, though a ways down, and still not in sight. As for the scans themselves, they weren't quite clear. The life signs were congruent with a Borg drone, if maybe a little... more. More active, more sizeable, more alert, more intelligent, maybe all of the above. It was simply more.

Aoife sent a copy of the scans to Saren via her Tricorder.

"Keep up lifesign scanning." The Romulan decided then as he continued to lead the way as he looked for a shield generator node. "Lieutenant Commander Tarsek's entirely right on that point, Lieutenant Kuzeed's query's pertinent, did it look like a Borg drone or did it deviate from standards?" He inquired then, his question directed to Lekraan and Paco. The question was followed by a swiftly added comment of. "Depending on how far it does, if it does, we may be able to determine more about what we're facing." As he then frowned a bit. "We've stopped being shot at, either a good or a bad sign." The Romulan huffed then as his mind considered things, the situation dissected tactically as he looked back to Aoife. "...There's a good likelihood Lieutenant Commander that, if they've not been destroyed, they've retreated to repair and re-arm."

"For our sake let's hope it's the latter. If we can get some kind of external sensors online we should be able to figure out what happened." By figure out what happened Aoife ment 'look for a debris field' but when she wasn't so callous to say it out loud.

Vesta really hoped that the Eventide had retreated to regroup. She didn’t know what would happen to them if the ship had been destroyed. “I’m guessing that looking for the sheild node is less of a priority now.”

"Indeed." Vara'l responded simply before he added. "Though I'd not count us out either way." The Romulan added softly then even as he internally struggled to maintain that calm, to not see this as potentially being another Arrenhe if things turned out a certain way. "We do still need to find a shield node, but yes, sensors just became the priority." The Romulan's jaw worked a bit then as he once again elected to try and re-centre himself, struggled against the inefficient emotions that roiled about within him. "What information we're able to gather will also determine...other things we'll need to consider." Vara'l added then as he continued to walk and tapped his combadge.

”I am not familiar with the organization of Borg vessels. Would it be possible to access the sensors through the console you previously accessed, commander?” Tarsek directed himself to Vara’l. “Or would we need to find a tactical or command bridge for such?”

"We'd need to find a console with the right accesses, as functions on a Borg cube are decentralised." The Romulan responded, his voice bleached clean of emotion as he considered the question, the sea of emotion that buffeted against his control concealed behind that practised mask. "Tactical consoles may well have the data we need though, yes." The Romulan grimaced then. "Without the Hive-mind though, its almost impossible if not impossible to identify the nature of consoles prior to attempted operation." Vara'l stated after that grimace as he continued to move, started to look for a console. "We might have more luck closer to Tactical nodes, but that's a very firm might."

Saeihr had been following along doing her very best to keep calm and act all the ways she though she was supposed to. There was nothing she had done wrong... hopefully, but somehow she felt as though she might as well not have been on this mission considering of how little use she had been so far. "Is there anything I can do? Sorry... I'm not sure how..." A shiver ran down her back and she resisted the urge to turn around, except the group was behind her and she did not want 'empty' hallway behind her back. (edited)

"Watch front, watch back and be aware of the cieling spaces, this thing can climb walls." Vara'l stated before, when the Ensign asked their question, he affected a entirely false but he hoped convincing smile. "If you stick with me at the front, you can support me with maintaining point-guard." He requested then as he idly attempted to squish the part of his mind that observed that if everything ended up bad.. Telim and Elohae were on the station and the lad would have lost a dad again. That if Eventide had retreated, the cube might have attempted pursuit, that 777 might be at risk. Thoughts he squished with effort as he forced himself to keep on task and looked for a console.

The comms came to Vesta’s visor and she stopped cold. The drone attacked, it had assimilated somebody. She had to wonder why it hadn’t attacked their group, was there something about them that made the drone not want to assimilate them? It made no sense. Nothing made sense here. “Should we go assist them?” She asked, her first instinct was to go help.

"I don't know if we can?" Not that she particularly wanted to be closer than nessesary to a borg drone that had proved to be hostile, but if it had moved on already they wouldn't be of any use anyways, or so she tried to tell herself. Saeihr stuck close to Commander t'Hara and kept looking back and forth down the hall and then up to the ceiling.

”Now that we know it is indeed hostile…” The Vulcan adjusted the settings on his phaser, not to kill yet, but to a higher level of stunning. “It is better we do not take any chances of additional injuries. I would suggest firing upon sight to keep it distant while we look for a way to access the cube’s sensors.” He looked at commander Vara’l at the front and then at Aoife, who was keeping position with him at the rear end of their group.

The moment he heard what he heard from Essen over the communications, Vara'l tapped his combadge and issued a order. Once he did that, Vara'l stated. "We can't help the one injected, rendering them unconscious will slow things but a sickbay's needed, right now its about keeping them from being full assimilated into a drone." With that stated, Vara'l continued to look for a console. "I'll query if they need more people, if they do we can move that way and unite the two groups up." He stated as he switched his phaser rifle to Kill. "I concur, fire if you see the drone, keep eyes front and behind and continue to check the cielings." Vara'l searched for that console as he tapped his combadge again.

Aoife noted Vara'l setting his rifle to kill she did the same in turn, her rifle giving off a shrill groan in response. "Time to shoot first and ask questions later. I think we should push on down this hallway until we find what looks like a command node, there a better chance we find a useful console there then by trying our luck with random ones along the hallway."

"We're repositioning to the south to reunite and move together with Lieutenant's Essen and Mavna's team." The Romulan responded then as his jaw worked a bit and he considered their surroundings. "If they leave the Lieutenant alone the drone might try to get Lieutenant Roode to a Assimilation chamber and if they remain as they are now they'll have less weapons on the peremiter." Vara'l looked around as he checked for consoles and also looked up as he checked for skittering drone. "Then we can proceed in force to locate a Command node and the consoles near there." The CTO continued then as he then paused and inhaled then exhaled, attempted too and then failed to calm the turbulent sea of emotions that roiled within him. Elements alive, Telim. A thought plain as it repeated in his head even as he forced that island of calm to remain. Forced control upon himself and stated. "As I concur with you there, they're a better chance than the random ones, considering we lack the hivemind to tell us which is which."

"Let's make tracks then." Aoife suggested as she turned on her heels ready to go back down the corridor to regroup with Essen's team. "Best get moving now the faster we get there to assess things the better."

The Vulcan was quick to nod and start following along Aoife, focused on protecting the group. So far his mental discipline had not failed him and he estimated it would be long before the tense situation started affecting his performance, but he could see the agitation growing in his group, particularly in commander Vara’l if his breathing pattern was any indicator. They had better find a solution quickly, or Tarsek was sure the prolonged exposure to this level pf distress might lead to panic. (edited)

Grey eyes betrayed little as he stated. "Lieutenant Commander's O'Rielly and Tarsek take point, we're headed south to re-group, myself and Ensign will rear guard." The Romulan stated then before he quickly added. "Keep monitoring up high also, just in case the drone seeks to engage us from above." As he turned and prepared to take up rearguard position. With that, Vara'l then proceeded to speak to Lekraan. "Lieutenant Commander Lekraan, can I ask how many sedatives you've got?" He inquired then as he'd worked to keep his voice calm.

She started walking with the group to the south to meet up with the other team. The one that had engaged the Borg and were now dealing with somebody undergoing assimilation. How could they deal with that? They couldn’t stop the process from happening on a Borg cube. Mavna and her were just joking about liberating a drone, and now it would have to happen. Somewhere deep in her mind she remembered the early days of the federation’s encounters with the Borg, where mercy killing those who were undergoing assimilation was common. If things got worse… it was an option she didn’t like, and she knew that nobody else would like it either, so she kept the thought to herself.

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Vara'l continued to move as he waited for the question aimed at the Medical officer to be answered. He moved with the group as they headed to #inner-hall-south